Ninjago Rise of Darkness
by GemeniZodiac
Summary: "Misako...if you don't mind me asking, why did you agree to adopt Lloyd?" Why did a bunch of demons want to rule so badly? *rated T for gore and cursing* *includes OCs but no ninja romance*
1. Chapter 1

The sky was dark, the light of the moon casting a dim shadow over the desolate streets, the air cool and windy.

A lone figure ran though the streets, his face concealed by the thick woolen hood pulled tight over his eyes, barely brushing the tip of his pug like nose. Within grasp of his grubby hands was a bright red jewel, about the size of a large onion. It glistened brightly on his filthy dark brown gloves.

In hot pursuit of the escaping man were five people;young men clothed in pastel ninja suits ranging from green to blue. Attached to their backs were weapons, sharp and deadly.

The dirty man ran, passing vandalized homes and shops, until he came to a graffitied alley with a tall grey metal fence.

Entering the messy backstreet, the cloaked man pressed himself against the wall, a smirk visible on his crooked yellow teeth.

"Sir, I'm only going to ask you this once,"

The red clad ninja, Kai, tried to sound assertive, emphasize the fact he had the upper hand over the most likely homeless thief.

"Hand over the jewel."

"Oh, this?" The man glanced down at the highly valuable object residing in his hand, collecting dirt from the filth in his gloves.

He looked up, hood riding up his forehead to reveal golden snake like eyes.

"I have no purpose for it anyways."

With a quick flick of the wrist, he shattered the jewel.

The ninja quickly pulled their weapons and held them towards the man, prepared to strike.

"It was merely bait."

The man chuckled, before reaching up as if to scratch is cheek.

Instead, he gripped his lower eyelid, pulling down forcefully.

"S-stop!" Kai cried out suddenly, hazel eyes widening at the mans actions.

He then tried to attack the man with full strength, only to be pulled back by Zane, who bore an emotionless expression.

The man continued to rip off his own skin, with each pull a sound of maniacal laughter escaping his mouth.

Cole stared at his teammates with a slight tilt of his head, and was rather surprised to find Kai muttering something, his sweaty palms clutching his weapon, a look of fear etched on his face.

The man laughed as he pulled off the last of his flesh, golden eyes dark and full of insanity.

In his place stood a small blood red humanoid figure, surrounded by skin colored shreds. Filthy grey claws replaced fingers, and a white symbol seemed to be branded into its arm.

"W-what," Jay slowly started walking back, horrified at the sight of the little monstrous figure, who was now clawing at the few hairs it had on its head. "What is that?"

Looking up, the creature smiled, revealing its three rows of yellowing fangs, rotten and decorated with specks of what appeared to be blood and chunks of flesh.

Walking forward, it held out a clawed hand, as if to warmly greet the ninja.

"You don't know who I am, but I know who you are!" It's voice, raspy and demonic was resonating throughout the alleyway.

Yes, that was the right word to describe the little creature; demonic. After all, no mere human would have horns or a tail. They certainly wouldn't be such a crimson color.

"Why, I know mostly everything about you!" The little demon clapped its hands together like a child recently gifted with a toy.

"You're Jay, Ninja of Lightning. You're Cole, the leader, and Ninja of Earth. Zane, you are the Nindroid of Ice. Kai-"

"Stay away from me!" Bringing his sword down in an arc, a desperate attempt to kill the creature.

"Oh I'll stay away..." The creature turned and smiled, it's eyes glowing with a sickening evil.

"Just tell your bastard of a sensei I said the five have risen once more...and this time they won't lose."

At this, he scampered up the side of the colorful building, ignoring the shouts of the ninja. Upon reaching the cement ledge, he burst into flames.


	2. Chapter 2

The aging sensei sat in his sleeping space, emerald eyes shut in peace and concentration. It seemed hours ago he'd sent the ninja out to recover a stolen artifact from the museum, when in reality it had been only about ninety minutes.

His brother and Misako in the other room, the man finally opened his eyes, allowing them to drift to the small wicker box at the foot of his bed, covered in a fine layer of dust and ash due to the Serpentine. With nimble fingers barely brushing the silver latch, he pulled it open. A small book, no larger than a any other sat at the bottom, it's blue leather cover peeling back to reveal an ugly tan cardboard material. Gripping the book in both hands, he slowly opened it.

The first few pictures brought back many memories, his brother and his own first katana; he could still remember the little cut he'd gotten upon accidentally graspin the blade instead of the handle. Their birthday parties, a symbol of growth in their home.

Then the pictures grew slightly depressing. His brother, growing paler in each frame, now had glowing crimson eyes, a smirk on his face. They were no older than thirteen. It showed their first days of high school, in which Garmadon had gotten in much trouble with the headmaster. He hadn't wanted to go to that school anyhow. He'd much rather go to the same school his own son had gone too around two years prior to the present day. But their father had disagreed, insisting upon a normal education.

But now was the future, not time to dwell on the past. It was late as well, and he was growing tired.

As to where his students were, they may have simply decided to celebrate by getting a snack or had already returned and went straight to bed.

Yet just as he gripped the slightly itchy wool blanket on his bed, he heard footsteps slightly increasing in volume just outside his room, and sighed, before pouring himself some tea.

The ninja did indeed throw open the door, and upon entering,instantly bowed with respect.

"Tell me your report." The old man stroked his long white beard slowly.

"I'm not quite sure what happened Uncle." Lloyd grew a look of confusion on his face. "We were following the theif when something odd happened. He changed..."

"Changed?" The sensei barely glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"He turned into...some creature, said he had a message for you." Jay leaned against the doorway, his usual joking demeanor serious.

"Really?" Sensei Wu was quite interested. "What message was this?"

Kai tried to recall the exact words the little demon had spoken before disappearing.

"Uhm...he said, the five had risen once more, and this time they wouldn't lose."

There was an ear splitting crash as Wu dropped his neon cup onto the flooring, the glass shards covered in hot brown liquid, which was seeping rough the floorboards in a steamy pile of tea.

Meanwhile, Sensei Wu had taken on a look of utter and complete terror, his emerald green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his hands shaking as blood slowly spilled down the cuts from broken china.

There were more footsteps as Garmadon and Misako rushed into the room, both clad in pajamas.

"Brother?" Garmadon asked, exhaustedly, his hair messy and in his face. "What's going on?"

"You're joking." The old sensei could barely mutter. "Please...tell me you're joking."

"Wu." Garmadon said firmly, bending down next to his brother. "Answer me. What is happening?"

"They...They have risen once more." The man could barely mutter, due to the fact the broken china had just moved on its own, into the shape of a five.


	3. Chapter 3

The ninja had managed to get their shocked sensei into his bed, scared and confused themselves. It was not everyday shattered china could move on its own, not even to clean up after itself, let alone form the very same number causing the thick, unbearable tension in the air.

"No...no..." The old sensei kept muttering, having been reduced to a meaningless and broken state.

"Lloyd, why don't you all go to bed?" Misako suggested, her eyes weary and tired. The gold ninja nodded, before turning to head towards the door, when an object caught his eye, bending down to retrieve it, he noticed it was a blue book, half open, the edges stained with tea.

"What's this?" He questioned, peeling open the currently wet book. It was full of photos, from when his father and uncle were children, to the present day. Carrying the book over to his uncles bedside, he kneeled down.

Slowly moving his head, the old man man smiled slightly, stroking the book with a shaky hand.

"Memories."

Cracking open the book, he shakily pointed to a worn black and white photograph. It was of two small children, wresting against the cracked, dry ground. They both wore traditional kimonos, their hair messy and frozen in the frame. Sitting behind them was a middle aged man in appearence, his long hair tied up neatly in a rice cap, eyes narrowed as he clenched a pair of nunchucks in his wrinkled fists.

"My father..." Garmadon spoke softly, his eyes sparkling, as he slowly traced the mans face with one finger. Misako looked quite uncomfortable, as the group continued to flip through pages, watching the two brothers get older, their appearances changing with each page.

They finally reached a picture of color, which revealed there was a large age difference between the previous and current photo. The brothers were at least thirty in the photo, and not alone, accompanied by two women; one with brown hair and tight emerald green eyes, the other with long blonde hair and softer green eyes of the same shade. They all wore traditional ninja gi, accompanied by swords attached to their sides. Lloyd could automatically tell one was his father, due to his crimson eyes and the faint scar on his hand, the one gripped the blond man, who the gold ninja assumed was his uncle.

"Sensei, who are those people?" Zane pointed at the two woman. Wu sighed, trying to ignore the pain in his hand before speaking in a calm, soft tone.

"Thor people you see here in this photo are Garmadon, myself and Lloyd's mother-" his eyes widened like he had made a mistake, just as Misako and Garmadon shot him looks of anger and fear.

"Then who is this woman?" Lloyd pointed to the blond woman.

His eyes drifted to Misako, who stared down at her slippers, obviously trying to avoid his gaze. The pieces in his brain snapped together, and his mouth opened.

"Does that mean-" Llody was cut off when the older woman spoke, her voice barely audible.

"Yes Lloyd, it means I'm not your mother."


	4. Chapter 4

Lloyd sat on his bed, desperately trying to ignore the knocking that had occurred within the past ten minutes of his escape from his uncles room. He just wanted to be alone.

Pressing his head against the flat, hard pillow, he shut his emerald green eyes, trying to ignore what had just ruined his family.

...

Misako sat down in the small wooden arm chair that resided in Wu's room, gripping her green scarf in shaking fingers. Tears stained her cheeks pink, fogging up her glasses as she shakily breathed in and out, her throat closing with each inhale and exhale.

"Misako, if you don't mind my asking, why did you agree to adopt Lloyd?"

Zane kneeled down, resting a cold hand on her knee, as an act of support and kindness. Dabbing her eyes with the cloth, the older woman smiled slightly.

"It's fine. I never really meant to adopt Lloyd, I just promised his mother...my sister, to watch him until she could return. But she never did, and one day I got a letter asking me to raise him. Honestly, I jumped at the chance, due to the fact I never had my own children. I suppose...I didn't want to lose him too."

"Then...who is Lloyd's mom?" Kai exchanged glances with his sister. They knew what it was like to lose a parent.

"Like I said, my sister... But she disappeared with Garmadon into the Underworld. I haven't seen her in fourteen years."

The former dark lord glanced down at his hands, tracing the faint white scar on his palm lightly. "I said I was sorry."

"The past is the past," Wu spoke gently, patting Garmadon's back. "For now we must plan a route to the Underworld."

"I would not do that." A calm, yet dangerous voice spoke behind them. The ninja spun around to see a peculiar young man leaning against the door.

His hair, long and shoulder length, was a jet black, barely brushing his dark purple eyes, across his right eye was a deep red scar. Held in his hands were two ebony katana's, crossed in an X formation over his black trench coat. The ninja watched in shock as he pushed the swords into his jacket, not even harming himself.

"The Evil Ones know who you are. They will not hold back."

"Who are the Evil Ones?" Cole stepped forward, in a fighting stance.

"The very demons who are now hunting you down. If you wish to get to the Demon World, you will need help."

"Who are you?" Garmadon had gripped a shard of the broken cup, his green eyes narrowed in anger.

"My name?" The black haired man stepped forward.

"I am Kade Hinamori."


	5. Chapter 5

The night was quiet.

The ninja all lay down in their room, staring at the ceiling above them. They'd agreed to discuss their plan the next day, yet Kade had warned them that talking might attract one of the villains they had intended to battle.

But why? Why did a bunch of demons want to rule the world so badly? If they were so highly respected, as Kade had said, why not just rule their own world?

Kai rolled over, his eyes still wide open. It was barely three in the morning, and the fire ninja knew he wouldn't get any sleep. The soft snores of the other ninja weren't helping, and he stood up, simply for a glass of water.

His feet creaking across the floor of the apartment they currently resided in. The red clad figure entered the little kitchen. But he was not alone.

"Hello." Kade's voice was soft, yet there was a hint of strength, and regret. "What are you  
>doing?"<p>

"Getting water." The man hissed, firmly gripping a cup from the dingy cabinet, eyes narrowed. He didn't trust the black clad man, even if he did offer his help, and would make a reliable addition to the team.

But then again, Kai never truly trusted anyone.

"I see," Kade's purple eyes shone with amusement. "Kai, I notice you have a sister?"

"So what if I do?" He hissed, Kade merely chuckled, before brushing something from his coat. "Nothing at all, I too have a sibling. He is only six, but already a brilliant fighter."

Kai nodded, before speaking. "That's nice, where is he?" His voice held a hint of venom, and a lack of trust. Already, the glass in his hand was starting to crack from sheer pressure, liquid spilling onto his bare fingers.

"I left him with a family friend. My own parents...are no more." The black haired youth sighed, before yawning lightly. "I am quite tired, I think I shall go to bed." Barely waving his hand in dismissal, the boy was lost into the darkness of the hallway. Kai had no choice but to retreat to his own room, hoping for sleep.

It didn't matter though, for everyone was awake at the bloodcurdling scream that suddenly occurred.


	6. Chapter 6

It was hideous.

The body lay against the wall, organs ripped out in a disgusting mess of flesh and cloth. Splattered across the wall and all over the once clean floor was blood, the scent of metal hung in the air. Pressed against the wall was Lloyd, the green ninjas eyes widened in horror and shock. The corpse had been ripped of all hair or any recognizable facial features. But what really caught the ninja off guard was the wall, right next to the window. In the blood of the dead were the words,

'YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.'

This was too much for Nya to take, and she collapsed into Jays's arms, a shaking mess of tears. Everyone's eyes were wide, shoes stained with the crimson liquid spilled all over the floor.

"Out! Everyone out!" Garmadon commanded, his breath shaky and heavy. Facing the deceased corpse, the former dark lord held out his hand, as if to stroke the figures ruined face. But instead, he reached into its open chest cavity, pulling out a kunai.

"Why." The man cursed. "Why her?" Wu slid against the floor, clutching his Bo staff in his hands.

The ninja stood forgotten, but Kade stepped forward, emotionless. "Garmadon." He commanded. "Allow me."

Kneeling at the body, he spoke some words, not of any known language to the ninja. But the elder adults in the room nodded, as if understanding.

"I knew it. Only one demon kills this way." The boy rose, clutching one of his katana in his hand.

"Flames of Dark Matter, take pity of this tortured soul, may it rest in heaven for all eternity." The body slowly burned with purple fire, before crumbling to dust.

Kade reached down, picking something up in his fist, before turning to the ninja, handing it to them.

"But why..." Zane questioned, blue eyes wide.

"Who would do this to Misako?"


	7. Chapter 7

It seemed like he wouldn't get any sleep, when in reality,mas soon as his head hit the pillow, his emerald green orbs shut tight, his hand instantly wandering to the yang necklace he'd possessed since birth.

"He's an adorable baby."

The voice belonged to a young man, possibly around the age of thirty or forty.

"He is, isn't he?"

This voice belonged to a woman, much older, but much more comforting.

"What are you going to do Amara? Didn't you say you had to leave?"

The woman..Amara responded instantly. "I'll send him to his father. Garmadon should know he has a son."

Lloyd, feeling trapped in his soup of a subconscious, peeled open his eyes, only to see the blond woman and his uncle, much younger.

It was his mother.

"Are you sure? I can easily raise Lloyd here at the Monastery, it's already easy enough raising Mali."

Wu ran a hand through his blond hair, green eyes narrowed in wait of an answer.

"No, I'd prefer to drop him off at the gates of Jingoku, where the skeletons do their rounds by the River Styx. His father will know. As for Mali-"

His mother looked out the window, and Lloyd followed her gaze, to see a girl around three or four with short white hair playing in the courtyard; throwing sticks at little pebbles and stray wood splinters in a poor attempt to move them.

"I don't want her near her brother now."

The conversation faded, and Lloyd was in another dream.

It was all dark, and he was floating around in a black mess of darkness, the air thick and cold. He was alone as far as he knew, and had time to think clearly.

"Who are you?"

The voice behind him, cold and deadly, made him spin in a three hundred and sixty degree angle. Looking at him with an emotionless expression was a girl, no more than fourteen or thirteen, with long white hair and crimson red eyes, which seemed to glow in contrast of her extremely pale, bloody skin. A smile was carved in her face, and her eyes and mouth bled.

Lloyd was caught up in staring at the girl, and she raised a jet black, claw like hand, waving it in the line of vision of his emerald green irises.

"I asked you a question." She said calmly, with some slight accent, latin maybe, yet her tone had a hint of hostility to it, like she might snap and attack at any moment.

"My name is Lloyd. I'm the green ninja."

The albino girl adjusted her oversized coat, before something caught her eye.

"That necklace...where did you get it?"

Lloyd pulled on the chain of his yang necklace, the little black crescent shape falling into his palm. "This? I've had it since I was born. Why do you ask?"

"Because-" the girl reached into her white t-shirt, pulling out a necklace. "I have one too."

The necklace was indeed a swapped version of his, quite ironically, Yin.

"So...are you a sort of angel? Not many people have white hair."

The girl shook her head. "I'm a demon. There's a difference."

Lloyd was about to respond with a simple answer, when that sentence struck fear deep on his soul.

"A...demon? Like the ones trying to kill us? They already killed Misako! Are you here to kill me too?"

His fists, filled with green light, did not strike any fear or emotion in the demon girl giving him a blank expression, her eyes dull.

"No. I don't help them. You're going to wake up soon, and I have a feeling we'll meet soon enough."

The girl turned to leave, her footsteps echoing in the darkness, and Lloyd stepped forward, a look of determination on his face,feeling the conversation was not done.

"I never did get your name. What is it?

The girl turned slightly, her hair blowing in the sudden wind that had appeared from the depths of the jet black atmosphere. He could have sworn she smiled when she said her name, as if she did have a sense of pride.

"Mali."


	8. Chapter 8

"It's right through here." Kade spoke quietly, leading the ninja through the foggy and dense forest. Brushing away a loose branch, the boy turned to the ninja.

"Be very quiet." He muttered. "If the Evil Ones truly know you're intending to fight them, they may be lurking here."

As if on cue, a few metered away from the ninja, a branch snapped. Clothed heads looked up to see a figure, truly horrifying.

His skin was a dark, ashy grey, which wouldn't have been so bad, had his eyes not been a cold, maniacal gold color, with the exception of one being gouged out. He wore black jeans, revealing the various bloody scars and wounds decorations his bare chest and arms. On his face, his smile was wide and painful, his black hair thick and matted with the blood of victims and himself.

"Kuso." Kade cursed, ripping his swords from his trench coat, the ninja stood, to horrified to move.

"Hello..." The man snickered slightly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you...did you like the gift I left for you, ninja?"

Lloyd noticed his arm was attached by crudely sown black stitches, and bone and muscle was visible...it was disgusting.

"Who are you?" Kai cringed. It was then the ninja realized...he'd killed Misako.

"Me...? I go by many names...but my Favorite?" He stepped closer, and they could smell the putrid rotting flesh odor radiating off him. "Is Torture."

"Begone demon!" Kade hissed, crossing his twin katana's together in an X.

"Why do you have such right to say such a thing...you are a half demon yourself." Torture smiled eerily, his forked tongue flickering.

"Why do you have such right to attack innocent people? You led a massacre of over a thousand humans!" The half demon yelled angrily, eyes bursting into a dark purple flame.

Torture made a noise, not different from one of a snake circling its prey. "Why do I pick on the pathetic sacks of flesh? Because-"

He held the sharp point of a scalpel towards the group. "It was your kind that killed Insanity! She was my sister, you bastards! You killed her!" His tone, psychotic and angry, reverberated through the small clearing, furiously jabbing the scalpel in his pocket, he pointed a bloody finger at them.

"I have strict orders not to kill you until you reach the Demon World, but you have been warned...next time we meet, I will not hold back."

He faded into the darkness of the forest, gone with the wind.

"Now, time is important, we have to hurry." Kade spread out his hands, the purple fire dispersing. In a slow tone, he spoke in an ancient language.

"Portal inferis nobis aperire viam vos obsecro."

The ninja stepped back, watching a faint glow on the half demons hands grow stronger, until it was bright enough to almost blind the ninja.

When the glow died down, in its place lay a strange vortex, swirling with purple and blood red. It sucked in rocks and leaves, and the small group peered forward. The portal was not clear enough to see into the other place, but it was dark and cold feeling.

"What are you waiting for?" Kade asked, his leg halfway in the purple mess of matter.

"Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Jay's eyes blinked open, trying to wash away the pain and exhaustion in his head. It was just his luck, of course the minute they'd exited the vortex, they'd been knocked unconscious by the sheer strength of the gravity of the portal.

Now as Jay tried to get ride of his aching migraine, his friends and Kade were quickly waking up, experiencing the same pain.

"Hey!" Cole suddenly snapped, waving his scythe at an unknown creature. "Get away rom my stuff!"

There was a slight hissing noise, and an imp crawled away from the Earth ninja's backpack, eyes narrowed in greed and anger at being caught.

It was then the small group looked around, taking in their surroundings. This so called "Demon World" was vast, and covered in nothing but sand and debris, which looked oddly like broken parts of vehicles and buildings. The sky was a crimson red, with a few storm clouds thrown in.

Taking a step forward, Zane winced as something sharp pierced his foot, digging into his skin. Removing the object from his foot, he saw it was a skull, possibly from an animal, due to the fact is had long, sharp horns sprouting from its head.

"What's that you got there?" Lloyd asked.

"I am not sure." The white ninja responded, turning the object in his hands. "Possibly the skull of an animal. Maybe a bull?"

Sensei Wu barely glanced at it. "No, that is the skull of a demon."

There was a crash as Zane dropped the skull from his hands, leaving it shattering on the ground. The once calm ninja had a look of shock on his face, similar to when he found out he was a robot. That had been a living, breathing person, and here it was, nothing more than a skull on the ground.

"Lets...get going." Kade said wearily, staring at the oddly snapped creatures flying in the air above their heads. The group started to walk into the desert, unsure of where to go.

Day quickly turned to night, as the ninja wandered aimlessly through the Demon World, trying to hide from any possible danger.

Garmadon had been strangely quiet the entire trip, and Lloyd turned to his father. "Dad, are you okay?"

The older man nodded, before smiling wearily. "Just a bit tired and disoriented."

"Okay." Lloyd decided not to bring up the topic of his dream, and instead focused his attention on the little necklace dangling on his chest. It seemed to be glowing slightly, but was probably a reflection of the moon

"Kade, do you have any idea where we're going?" Kai questioned, hazel eyes narrowed.

"I do, a fairly close companion of mine resides here. We should be there shortly. I made this journey not to long ago, dropping off my brother, so the path is still fresh in my mind."

They came to a small town, surprisingly complex. While there were no cars, there were buildings, and some small stands, trash littering the currently desolate streets. Kade led the group to a little two story brick building.

"This is the apartment complex where my friend resides." He spoke. Yet the place did not seem big enough for many apartments, as it had maybe eight rooms, yet the half demon strolled up to the third apartment, rapping sharply on the door.

The ninja quickly rushed up to him, just as the plastic white door was forcefully shoved open by seemingly brute strength. Standing at the entryway of the room was a little boy, no more than six, with shaggy black hair and bright blue eyes. Wearing a baggy yellow sweatshirt and green shorts, he rocked back and forth, a smile growing on his face.

"Brother!" He shrieked, hugging Kade. "I knew you'd come back!"

Pushing himself off the older man, he turned to the figure currently approaching the door. "Look! My brother is here!"

Who arrived at the door was obviously not human. His hair was lime green, eyes am orange red, which shone with amusement and kindness. What was odd though, was the fact small lime green scales covered portions of his tan face. His blue sweatshirt and jeans were caked with mud and dirt. He was no more than fourteen.

"Well Kade," he spoke softly, an amused smile growing on his face, bright fangs stuck in his mouth, as he chuckled. "That mission certainly didn't take very long."

The ninja realized that he had to be part snake, his pronunciation of the letter s was stretched out, making it sound like a hiss.

It was then he noticed the ninja, and a look of confusion crossed his face. "Hello! Who are you people?"

Sensei Wu stepped forward, serving as an ambassador for the team. "Hello, I am Sensei Wu and these are my students; Kai, Zane, Cole, Lloyd and Jay. This is Nya, and my brother Garmadon. Who might you be?"

The green haired boy stepped aside, allowing the group into the dingy small apartment. It wasn't very large, having only one main room and a hallway leading to smaller rooms.

"My name is AJ." He smiled.

-

The ninja bowed with respect, before AJ clapped his hands in a busy fashion. "Well! Kade, is there a reason you come with so many people?"

The half demon nodded his head, black hair messy as it flew in his violet eyes. "Yes AJ, the Evil Ones have risen."

AJ's blood orange irises widened slightly, yet he quickly regained his composure. "Are you joking? But they've been dead for almost thirty years! How could they possibly be back?" Quickly shutting the door, he locked it, as if the Evil Ones were lurking nearby. When in reality, all knew they wouldn't be safe if those demons truly did attack.

"I am not joking. Do you mind if we stay here?"

AJ shook his head, his green bangs flying as he spoke. "Not at all. We've got some room. Let me show you around."

He led the ninja down the hall.

"Here is the bathroom, this is my room, where you all can stay, this is the main closet, so if you need some towels-" he pulled a grubby white towel from a filthy stained rack. "Here they are. That's about it, you already saw the kitchen and living room, please, make yourselves comfortable."

"Wait...what's this room?" Jay asked, gesturing to a closed white door with some scuff marks and dirt. AJ's expression changed from one to a bit of sadness.

"My friend, who also lives here, that is her bedroom." He responded, walking down the hall, the ninja followed suite.

"If she's a girl, then could Nya stay with her?" Kai asked, not wanting Nya in the same room as Jay.

"I'd say yes, but she is not...the healthiest person, and I fear Nya might get sick." The fourteen year old opened a loose cabinet, pulling out a box of instant soup, the little red box slightly bashed in and torn.

"I'll start cooking dinner, please, sit somewhere. Akira, could you please go wake her up?" He asked. Akira seemed to know who he was talking about, because he skipped merrily down the hall, before slowly opening the scuffed door and stepping in.

"Alright, this will only take a few minutes." The snake boy spoke quietly, opening a refrigerator and taking out a bag of sliced bread. "Would anyone like anything to drink?"

The ninja, seeing the poor conditions of the food, shook their heads quickly, just as footsteps and an odd noise echoed down the hall.

Akira was returning followed by a girl, about thirteen or twelve. She had long ivory white hair covering half her face, and literally bloody crimson eyes. One of her arms was jet black and claw like, and she looked sick. Maybe that was the reason she was clutching a cane like her life depended on it. Maybe that was why her t shirt and pajama pants seemed loose on her. What was disgusting, however, was the smile carved into her face, bloody and swollen slightly.

"Hey AJ," the girl murmured, limping over to him. "What are you doing?" She had a slight accent.

"Just making dinner!" The boy responded cheerfully. The obviously albino girl nodded, leaning against the wall.

"Do we really need so much? It's just you, me and the kid." She jerked a thumb towards Akira.

"Nope!" The boy smiled, looking at his friend. "We have guests!" He nodded towards the ninja.

The girl looked at them, and Kai flinched. She looked...disturbing.

"Hello. Didn't see you there." She muttered, waving the ninja. Lloyd thought she was familiar, and their eyes met.

"I...know you." He narrowed his emerald green irises. "You're from my dream."

"Yes.." The girl responded. "I do remember you..."

Lloyd stood up, walking over to the girl. "How are you?"

"Sick, but I'll survive hopefully." She said it in such an emotionless tone, he didn't know if she was joking.

"Lloyd, do you know this girl?" Kai asked, not trusting any of the people who lived here.

"Yes, actually I do," The green ninja said, venom lacing his tone as he looked at his father. "This is Mali."

"My sister."


	10. Chapter 10

All of this seemed to pile up on Garmadons mind. First, he'd barely given any thought he'd been lying to his son for practically his entire life, having given him a false mother. Now he was seeing his other child, who didn't look exactly thrilled to see him either. He nervously brushed his grey hair away from his eyes, a look of fear painted on his face.

"Lloyd...how...how do you know?" The former dark lord managed, his glance switching between the albino and the golden ninja, who slowly smiled confidently, like he'd won.

"Well, dad," he pronounced the name like he was saying it for the first time. "I had a dream."

The response was so entirely ridiculous, yet he felt such fear in those four words.

"About what?" Garmadon could hear Wu ask, quite interested.

"I...I learned about my mother in some ways." The golden ninjas courage faltered. Saying 'mother' was hard, like a foreign word. "I learned she didn't want me to be around my sister, and that she wanted my father to know I existed. But...I don't know why." He brushed his golden hair from his emerald green eyes.

"Fine. Honestly, I shouldn't lie to you anymore. You are...both siblings." Garmadon stared down at his feet, before finally looking up, a weary smile on his face as he turned to his daughter. "Hello...it's been a while-"

"I don't want to hear it." The girl snapped, walking straight out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind her.

Garmadon started to follow, only for a blue clothed arm to block his path. He shakily turned towards AJ, who barely glanced at him, eyes focused on the grimy white door.

"I wouldn't go. If I know anything about my friend, she wants to be alone." The teen turned his back to the former villain, firmly grasping a spoon in his hand.

"But...it has to be under thirty degrees outside!" Zane protested, the ninja having been silent the entire time, unsure what to say, other than the fact the ice ninja had indeed prepared a reading on the weather when they had first arrived, and it was extremely cold at night. Kade said it was due to being farther underground, but it was rather warm at day.

"She's not affected by cold. Nobody knows why, but don't worry, she'll be fine."

But Lloyd stared towards the door, and finally decided to speak up.

"I should...probably talk to her, does anyone have a jacket I can borrow?" The gold ninja looked amongst his friends, who all shook their heads, all having unexpected cold weather.

"Hmm..you look about my size. I've got one in the closet if you need one." AJ decided finally, barely pointing towards another door down the hall. "It's orange."

As Lloyd walked down the concrete hall, he peered into the open doors. The rooms were all relatively simple, having nothing but a few small cots and some drawers, the walls painted white, with various dents and scratches. But...they looked a bit comfortable, so Lloyd moved along, finally opening the closet door and shoving aside a few shirts to grab an orange parka. It was a bright orange, not much different from AJ's unusual blood orange eyes...but it would do.

Now, Lloyd shuffled out the door, heading towards where AJ had promised his sister would be, and sighed. He was happy to have found out about most of his family, but still...many questions remained unanswered, so he was hoping finding his sister might help.

So he placed his foot on the seemingly dangerous roof, before spotting Mali sitting against a brick chimney, and quietly stepped forward.

"I know it's you." He was quiet surprised when she spoke without turning around, and when he did speak, his voice quivered slightly.

"Yeah...I...are you okay?" The former child questioned, still slightly unsure how to act in moments like this...for he had gone through such a similar problem almost two years ago, facing his supposed mother for the first time. But Misako was dead now...and he grew weary of what he might say.

"Eh, I'll be fine." The white haired girl glanced towards him, dark red eyes narrowed, as if deciding if he was alone or not. When he wasn't, she allowed him to sit down, crushing an unknown object in her hand, and throwing it over the edge of the tacky brick building, unfazed by the cold wind blowing against them.

"Look, I'm not trying to get you to talk to dad or anything...but can I ask you a few questions?" The gold haired boy played with his fingers, eyes focused on the beautiful dessert stretching out for miles before them.

"I guess so." His sister reached into her pocket, pulling out a lighter and a box of cigarettes, and lighting one, she held it towards her brother. "D'you want one?"

"No..thanks." Lloyd's eyes widened at the sight of someone so young smoking. But he couldn't complain...again...for he'd bitten his nails when his father was still evil, so it might have just been a bad habit. "Uh...I guess what I want to know is...did you ever meet our mother?"

The albino was quiet for a minute or two, before finally pulling the cigarette away from her lips. "Once," she admitted, looking at him slightly. "But I was just a little kid...younger than Akira, and he's six."

"Okay, but...what happened? Was there a reason she abandoned me?"

His sister chuckled slightly, exhaling sharply. "Wish I could help there, but...she left when I was born, so I don't know. But our uncle always said everything happens for a reason, and there's got to be a reason behind all of this." Coughing, she brushed some ashes from her shirt. "You could ask uncle, but he probably won't say anything...he's a bit nervous when it comes to our mother. You can go back in. I'll come back in a minute. Promise."

Lloyd nodded, biting his lip as he headed back towards the apartment. By now, the sun had gone down, and it had to be at least eight o'clock. Stars were already littering the faint dark blue sky, the moon full and in position.

"Hey, you're back." Cole notes, looking up from his bowl of soup. The black haired ninja had sat down against the wall, gripping a plastic blue bowl in his hands. Next to him sat the other three ninja, all enjoying the soup.

"How did it go?" Garmadon asked, worried. Lloyd chuckled at his fearful expression.

"It was fine dad, we didn't fight or anything...just talked. She said she'll be down soon."

Garmadon sighed, sitting down as Akira tugged on his arm.

"Mister?" He asked quietly, eyes wide. "Will you read me a story? AJ is cleaning up, and Mali and Kade say I'm too old. But they don't have to know! Please?"

Garmadon chuckled, unable to resist running a hand through the little boys black hair. "I...I suppose so. Is there a certain one you want?"

The little child pondered this thought for a moment, before finally piping up. "Can you...just tell me one? We don't have any books." Hanging his head in shame, the six year old swung his leg back and forth.

"Fine." The former dark lord stood up, sighing as he did so. He then took Akira's outstretched hand, following him to his bedroom, which he shared with Kade and AJ. Firmly sitting on his cot, he yanked away the olive green blanket, throwing himself down as he struggled to get into his bed.

"Okay! Now tell me a story!" The little boy smiled brightly, a gap between his two front teeth.


	11. Chapter 11

The room was dark, only a few windows providing some light. At the very center of the room stood a tall man, his body swaying slightly back and forth as he stared up at the beautiful stained glass window positioned above his head.

It depicted an odd creature with white skin and hair battling a shadow like beast. Surrounding the main picture were smaller images, all of which depicted a battle between two figures. He knew these pictures well...hey were of his brothers and sisters.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open with a creak, and light flooded into the small room, revealing the mans odd appearence.

He had dark grey skin, mostly covered up by the black t shirt and jeans he wore under the bright red cloak. His eyes, half concealed by his long blood red hair, were a bright yellow, the pupils slits. Brushing away his bangs from his eyes, he turned to face the man who had opened the door.

This man, also odd in looks, had grey skin as well. His hair was a dirty blond, his body littered with multiple tattoos, all either pentagrams or seals, the largest being a star over one of his dark blue eyes. He wore a long blood red shirt and black jeans, both of which had odd belt like brown straps. A sly smirk was on his face as he entered the room.

"Satan..." His voice, raspy and light, rang out. "The ninja have-"

"I know," Satans voice was dark and deep, an unamused look on his own face. "Torture stupidly revealed himself. Honestly, I too miss our fallen sister, but he goes to far."

"Yes...shall I send one our siblings out to deal with them?" The blond man questioned, his salmon colored sclera standing out in the slight darkness.

"No," the other responded. "You shall deal with them personally. I trust you will send them yet another warning, correct Blasphemy?"

Blasphemy nodded. "Yes...brother. I will not fail."

At this, he turned, slamming the door shut behind him, leaving Satan chuckling as he stared up at the mosaic once more.

"You do not know what you've willingly helped create ninja..."

_

"And they lived happily ever after."

Kade entered the room just as Garmadon finished telling Akira a story, and the hybrid couldn't help but chuckle. He'd told his younger brother he was too young for stories. But the latter hadn't listened.

"Garmadon," he bowed slightly in respect. "Thank you."

The older man smiled slightly. "It's not a problem, I didn't do it much with my own children, so it's the least I could do."

He exited the plain room, leaving the older teenager with his young brother, sound asleep in his bed.

"Goodnight Akira," he muttered, kissing his only remaining family's forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"Hey," AJ stepped onto the roof, walking slowly over to his friend. "You've been out here almost an hour. Everything good?"

Mali sighed, blowing a puff of smoke from her mouth. "I'll be okay, just thinking."

The green haired teenager sat down, his feet swinging over the ledge. "It's your father isn't it?"

Blinking her crimson eyes, the girl nodded. "Yeah... I just have a lot of questions that I'm wondering about. If my father couldn't escape the Underworld, how could my mother get in? When was my brother born? I'm just...so confused."

AJ wrapped an arm around his friends shoulder. "You think I don't have questions about my past as well? It's normal to wonder about things."

The girl leaned on the serpentine boy, who smiled slightly, running a hand through her snow white hair. "Thanks AJ."

Yawning, she stood up, brushing more ashes from her white pajamas. "It's getting late, we should probably head back in."

The two teenagers both stared up once more at the dark night sky, before disappearing into the red brick building.

The young man smiled slightly, dusting off the objects collecting dust on the dresser. His dark brown eyes focused on his reflection in the object sitting in his hand. Brushing a stray strand of hair from his face, he turned, prepared to close up his building for the night.

What he did not expect was to be met with brilliant dark blue eyes.

The ninja did not hear the scream of terror echoing throughout the night sky.


	12. Chapter 12

AJ smiled slightly, enjoying the last few winks he got of sleep as he shakily stood up, his knees aching from being curled up all night. Sprawled in various positions on the floor were the ninja, still fast asleep, their ninja suits dirty and mud stained.

The half serpentine exited the room, careful not to wake his companions as he quietly walked down the hall, looking at the walls with little interest. The white paint was peeling, revealing the wood and wires hidden behind the plaster.

The paper like blinds were closed, cloaking the room in darkness. That didn't really bother AJ. he just went about his normal schedule, making himself something for breakfast. The room was normally dark.

He heard footsteps behind him, and slowly turned to see Akira and Mali both standing there, the latter rubbing her eyes. The small six year old leaned against the wall, his pajama shirt sliding down his shoulder.

"G'morning." AJ waved slightly. "You're both up early."

The albino shrugged, before sitting down on the arm of the chair. "Couldn't really sleep. Don't know why the kids up."

"I heard a noise, so I got up." The boy said simply, as if it all made sense.

"Alright then, are either of you hungry?" The half snake held up the slightly burnt pan, before placing it down gently on the rusty old stove.

"No, I'm good. Thanks." Mali stood up, walking over and reaching into the cabinet for a pill bottle, as Akira rushed up to AJ, clinging to his legs.

"Whatcha making? I'm hungry." The child smiled widely.

"Uh, just some toast. Go ahead and open the blinds, will you?"

"Okay!" Akira ran to the window, before grasping the dirty cord and pulling it tightly. An eerie red light filled the room, and Akira screamed.

Smeared against the window was a living creature, it's dark hair matted with blood. It's organs had been ripped from its torso, flattened and crushed against the glass. Just like Misako, it's eyes had been removed, giving it a lack of noticeable features. The dead body had been tacked against the plastic part of the pane, staining the window with crimson.

"What the hell?" AJ yelled, eyes widened as he pressed himself against the wall, Akira clinging to his leg, his own blue eyes fearful and horrified. Even Mali looked slightly scared and confused. It was quite obvious the three had never seen a deceased corpse in such a state.

"Wait a minute..." The albino stepped forward, examing the window. "It couldn't be..."

"What is it?" AJ questioned, running a hand through Akira's tangled black hair. The poor boy was sobbing, tears staining his shirt.

"What's going on- oh my god!" Nya screamed, and Jay instantly grabbed her, his blue eyes wide with shock.

"Who did this? What is that?" Kai instantly asked, starting to distrust the three.

"Is that...Dareth?!" Zane was horrified, a hand clapped over his mouth.

"Who did this Mali?" Kade asked, expression serious and angry.

The girl stood up straight, and turned to face her friend, purple eyes meeting red.

"Blasphemy." She growled.

"Who?" Lloyd was curious. Sure, he was scared his friend was brutally murdered, but also confused.

"An Evil One, he's Satans second in command." Wu supplied, unfazed by the blood.

"I don't get it...why would he just kill this man?" AJ ran his fingers against the glass.

"Because..." Kai spat, hazel eyes narrowed. "Dareth was our friend...and they will stop at nothing to destroy us."

Akira, still crying, looked up from his new position; buried in Kades trenchcoat. "What if...he's still...here?"

The groups eyes widened, realizing he was right.

"Shit."


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone stood still for a moment, too scared to move, like whatever had killed their once silly companion was lurking in the shadows, able to strike at any moment.

"How...how did this 'Blasphemy' know where we were located?" Zane's voice squeaked as he stared at the bloodied and shredded apart corpse with wide grey eyes. "I have ran it through my systems...nothing comes up as humanely possible."

Kade, running a black gloved hand through Akira's hair sighed, purple eyes flickering towards Darteths remains. This had been the second death that had occurred at the Evil Ones hands. The question was, what did these deaths have anything to do with the ninja, other than relations?

"That is because..." The half demon hybrid chose his words carefully, to keep the ninjas hard earned trust. "It is not humanely possible. It is something only demons can do. It is sort of similar in a way to telepathy, but you can track a person...or things...location."

Jays blue eyes widened at this incredible fact. "So...it's basically a GPS implanted in somebody's brain? How does it work?"

Chuckling, AJ winced as he too stared at the bloodied human body. "It's quite simple, I couldn't show you though..." His eyes drifted towards the albino, who was still silent. "Do you want to try? I know you're-"

"Don't," Mali looked at him, dark crimson eyes narrowed. "If he really is here, we would know by now. There isn't any way he could just make all the blood disappear if he was inside the building. But-" she shut her eyes tight, seemingly concentrating on something. "Wait...I'm getting something. He's here alright. Just not...here."

She reopened her eyes, and her sclera were literally a jet black, irises and pupils still shades of red.

"How...how are you-" Garmadons own green eyes were widened in shock.

"Did you ever consider the fact I wasn't human?" The albino sighed, irratated. "Look. Let's just go find whoever killed your friend and send it back to Hell."

At this, she threw open the door, the little grey handle slamming into the wall, creating yet another dent or scratch.

The hallway, better seen in the early morning, was a dark grey, with large water and assorted stains decorating the walls. In an obviously poorly carved in window, the ninja could properly see the demon world, the blood red sky slightly softer colored in the daylight.

"Any luck?" AJ's voice rang out in the quiet after a minute or two.

"No, he's not up here, and not upstairs either," The thirteen year old brushed a strand of hair from her face, before blinking slightly. "Unless..."

The half snake boy seemed to understand, and hurriedly walked over to a little wooden door under the stairwell, prying it open with clenched fingers, eyes widened with slight fear something might attack him. But all the opened passageway revealed was utter and complete darkness.

"How will we see? Is there any way you can see in the dark?" Kai asked desperately, still shaking from seeing Dareth dead.

"I haven't mastered it yet...but Kade can." Pointing one of her claw like fingers at the half breed, the girl stood next to AJ, who was scratching nervously at one of the lime green scales embedded in his face, eyes flickering with fear.

Kade nodded slightly, stepping forward so the toes of his shoes barely touched the doorway.

Forcefully yanking his swords from his purple and black coat, the half demon uttered some words under his shallow breath, and his eyes burst into purple flames.

The ninja recoiled, their own eyes widened in horror. But Akira, AJ and Mali just stood, unfazed by their friend and brothers sudden transformation.

"Let us go." Kades voice was demonic and raspy, his skin flickering invisible every few moments. The step creaked as he placed his foot upon it, and soon a domino effect of noise was heard, as all walked down to the basement.

The basement, a creaky, old wet room, was empty, with the exception of many boxes and containers, all holding some ancient books or candles, some held canned food and jugs of water.

Narrowly avoiding a puddle, Lloyd turned to Kade, making sure to keep his distance.

"Is anything here? Anything you can see?" The golden ninja had a hint of panic in his voice.

"Nothing." Kade chuckled slightly, eyes flickering to a bright purple.

"What about you? Anything?" The ninja had grown desperate, not wanting to be attacked from the dark anymore.

"No...I...I can't find him." His sister, for once, had a slight tone of confusion in her way of speaking.

"There are four paths, let us split up and take them." Kade decided, grasping Akira's wrist as he led him down a tunnel, followed by AJ. Cole and Zane and Sensei Wu decided to take another, the falcon flying behind them, eyes glowing blue. Jay, Nya and Kai all walked down the last path, leaving Garmadon, Lloyd and Mali.

The three family members looked at each other, standing in the darkness and quiet for a few moments, before Garmadon finally spoke.

"Lets...just go before this thing finds us."

The family walked down the tunnel, Garmadon providing light with a lantern he'd discovered, opening a box. The only sound was the sound of water dripping from above, splashing against the floor.

"You...you said you weren't human," the man tried to start a conversation. "So...what are you?"

"Demon." Mali responded, slight annoyance in her voice. "Why else would I be here?"

Lloyd glanced up from watching his feet move in the shadows. "Dad...would you tell us more about our mother?"

Garmadon just sighed, facing the inevitable conversation.

"Your mother...? What can I say? We met when we were small, she lived in this village. Grew up to be a brilliant warrior. She looked just like you two. Just as stubborn too-"

"I...I don't think that's what he meant," Mali interrupted, the flashlight casting an eerie shadow on her pale face. "Why did she abandon us?" At this, her voice hit a sharp edge, and she stepped harshly in a puddle, the murky water splashing against the groups feet.

"I...your mother had a problem with facing the unbelievable when it was right in front of her. She couldn't accept you weren't human...and I suppose she had a fear of seeing her only son facing off against his father one day. But...we're together again...and that's what matters." He tried to smile, but it came out weary and scared, his eyes, shining in the darkness, were full of panic and fear.

"Wait...what's grabbing my leg?" Lloyd suddenly cried out, his voice squeaking in horror. Garmadon instantly grabbed his Bo staff.

"Oh, sorry," Mali said, bored. Lloyd seemed to relax. "That was me."

"You...have a strong grip." The teenager tried to calm down, breathing heavily.

"Most tails do." His sister responded, walking ahead of them. Lloyd shot his father a worried glance, before walking up the stone hallway.

They didn't get very far, as another scream echoed in the darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

The small light flickered down the moist hallway, the only comforting sound the dripping water running down the walls. There were few doors, some opened, some locked tight. The opened doors only led to more storage rooms, and it was hard to tell if there was any blood, it was so dark.

Cole, Zane and Sensei all entered the last room, the door having been barely open. All they found was a few boxes, stained with mold and dirt.

Cole opened one of the boxes, finding nothing but old books with ancient symbols coated in a thick layer of dust. Zane too grabbed a box, prying it open to look for clues. All that sat in the soggy cardboard box was what looked like a slightly stained binder, with yellowing pages sticking out of it. Carefully lifting the binder, the nindroid turned the cover, and a look of confusion crossed his face.

"Sensei?" His voice rang out in the small storage room, and the older man turned his head to glance at him.

"What...what is this?" The ice ninja held out a scroll, older than the rest. On it was an inky black and white figure, surrounded by three different stick like humanoids. One lime green, one a bright crimson, the last blue. All four had bright red eyes, and were cloaked in a shadow like grey, the writing was illegible, and not even human, not even what the ninja liked to call, "chicken scratch".

"Let me see it," The old man gingerly took the ancient paper, and studied it for a moment, with each word, his eyes grew wider.

"How did...how did you find this Zane? It should...should be destroyed. It...shouldn't exist."

The nindroid tilted his head. "What do you mean Sensei? Is it dangerous?"

"You will know in time." The old teacher responded, tucking the parchment into his rice hat.

The duration of the next ten minutes were relatively quite, with the occasional sneeze from Cole, resulting in Sensei giving him one of his famous stern looks.

Then Zane came across a little wooden frame, the class cracked and coated with dirt and wet water. There were three people in the photograph, two men and a woman, both with dark brown hair, styled in similar fashions. Yet one had glasses, and wore a white lab coat, while the other simply wore overalls and a grimy button down shirt. The woman, while she had glasses, wore a brown jacket and oil stained jeans. Even with their brown hair, Zane recognized the people.

With a shaky hand, the nindroid pulled away the shards of glass, turning over the yellowing picture. There was tiny writing on the back, in a woman's curly handwriting.

'January 7,1979

I'm quite sad to say that while our plan worked in the beginning, we were forced to shut down Plan Prototype. While they worked fine in the start of the testing, one acquired a virus..an infection of sorts, and became corrupted. We were forced to shut down Plan Prototype, for fear the others may have become corrupted. But they proved strong in battling the Dark Army, and even sent one of those demon things to sleep. But the plan was a success at first! Now Julien is planning to go work on another project in the woods. We're trusting Xavier to hide this away. But if anyone is looking for the subjects of Project Prototype, they could find them in-'

The message was cut off, replaced by hasty black scribbling, as well as the words,"DO NOT ATTEMPT. TO RISKY."

"What is that?" Cole asked, taking the paper, his thick eyebrows rising as he studied it. "Huh, what's Project Prototype? Sounds useful."

"But look at this," Zane pointed to one of the lines in the letter, a name. "This is my father. Was he helping? Aren't these Jays parents?"

Sensei took the paper from Cole. "It seems this may be of use. We may be returning to Ninjago sooner than we thought."

Zane turned towards the box once more, a concerned look crossing his face. Why had the message been cut off? Why had the entirety of the project been shut down? It didn't seem like much of a concern, but Zane felt he needed to figure it out.

"There is nothing here," Sensei said calmly, his Bō staff clicking against the floor as he turned to exit. "Let us go."

Cole froze, as if expecting Blashpemy to be right behind them, like in a horror movie; face and body covered in the victims blood, a gruesome smile on his usually hideous face. But this wasn't a horror movie.

It was real life.


	15. Chapter 15

Akira's small hand found its way into Kades, sweaty and cold. His blue eyes reflected the dim stone walls, irises wide with fear. The poor child was shaken up. He'd never seen a dead person like that before.

A warm hand suddenly touched his shoulder, and the six year old squeaked, clinging to his elder siblings arm. Aj had stepped back slightly, hands up in a defensive position, eyes wide.

"Akira, quite fooling around. That thing could be anywhere." Kade snapped gruffly, eyes focused on the rapidly darkening tunnel, the only source of light his bright purple eyes.

Akira felt his heart skip a beat. Anywhere? That made him scared to look around, or even up, for fear the creature that had killed that human was dangling above his head, staring at him with big frightening eyes.

"Kade," AJ began in his raspy voice, his own eyes narrowed. That was new. He was usually a friendly person, rarely angry. "Stop scaring him. Besides, Blasphemy must know we're looking for him, and have hidden somewhere we wouldn't expect."

The older demon hybrid sighed, running a hand through his ebony hair, brushing it from his face. The scar running over his right eye seemed ripple as he blinked slightly. "While that's true, we have three other tunnels, with three others groups. While there is a twenty five percent chance he would be here, we must be careful. I am not losing my brother."

The silence continued on for at least five minutes, before Akira finally broke it, his young, slightly high pitched voice filling in the dark void.

"Kadey...you never talk about our mom or dad. Why?"

The boy, while he was curious about his parents fate, simply wanted to introduce a new conversation, to steer it away from the murderer that could literally be feet away.

"Akira, now is not the best time." The teenager responded, tilting his head slightly to look at the younger.

"No...Kade," AJ placed a scaly hand on the half demons shoulder. "You should tell him."

The ebony haired hybrid paused, glancing at Akira and AJ, both with curious expressions painted on their faces. Releculantly, he gave in, sighing.

"Fine," resting his sword against the wall of the catacomb like basement, the boy crossed his arms. "Our father, there's not much to say. He was like any other parent I suppose. Our mother was kind and friendly, but why do you ask?"

"Well, I wanted to know, and Mali got to meet her dad and brother, so why can't I know about my family?"

Kade blinked his eyes in surprise. For such a young age, his brother was very wise, though he liked to show his wisdom in different ages.

"Alright then. Our father died in a battle. Against who, I am not sure. This was months before you were born. A year later, we lost our mother in-"

He never finished his sentence, picking up his sword and continuing down the path, footsteps heavy and slow.

Akira sighed. It seemed he would never get the right answers. As he was about to continue on his way, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"Something's about to happen." He spoke quietly, teal eyes wide.

"What makes you say?" AJ, who'd been silent as the siblings spoke, questioned. The hallway was quiet, empty. It was obvious Blasphemy was not there, so why did he feel anxious.

"I don't know. I just feel like something's gonna happen." The small boy said, clenching his hands into tiny fists underneath his large yellow sweatshirt.

"Nothing's going to-" Kade was cut off as a loud, shrill scream echoed across the basement, resonating off the walls. Raising an eyebrow at his brother, the demon hybrid ran towards the source, followed by AJ and Akira.


	16. Chapter 16

Blasphemy sighed, leaning against the concrete wall. He'd thought for sure that kidnapping the pathetic girl would lead the ninja and their companions in his trap, yet it only made them more oblivious to the bait right in front of their noses.

"You won't get away with this!" Nya cried out indignantly, her voice muffled by the thick fabric tied around her mouth. Rolling his dark blue eyes, the deity of blasphemy turned to the girl, fingers tracing the blade of the golden dagger strapped to his thigh with black leather string. Turning to examine his ebony colored fingernails, his eyes flickered to the samurai girl, who struggled against her constraints, the rope digging into her skin.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It only decreases the amount of time until I kill you." The blond man sighed. Slowly, Nya froze, eyes wide with horror. Beside her lay Jay and Kai, both unconscious, with nasty purple bruises on their foreheads. They'd been tied up as well, but did not struggle, due to having been knocked cold for the last half an hour.

"Blasphemy..." A deep, raspy voice snarled, and the demon flinched, quickly pulling his dagger from his leg. Reflected in the metal was a man, similar in appearance to him.

He had slightly paler grey, slightly greener skin, which looked sweaty and cold underneath his pale brown hair. He wore a simple blue surgeons uniform, yet his mouth was concealed by a bloodied surgery mask, which was fitting, considering he seemed to be in a hospital like surrounding. Strapped around his chest was a belt, normally used for holding bullets, yet in this case, it held many clear syringes of liquid. His eyes, pale green surrounded by a light yellow sclera, were narrowed in anger and annoyance. Crossing his heavily bandaged arms, the man...about twenty three or so, glared at Blasphemy.

"Have you completed your mission yet?" The man asked. The blond sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Not yet Disease...I'm just waiting." Raising an eyebrow in annoyance, the brunette coughed slightly.

"For what exactly? Satan will not be pleased when he realizes you-"

"I know Satan will not be happy!" Blasphemy snapped, hand clenched into a fist. "But I am waiting. You see, I have with me two of the ninja and their sister. I am using them as bait for the other ninja...once they come here..." He snapped his grey fingers. "Right into my trap."

"You forget they have three half breeds and a demon helping them." Disease growled. "They may know your weaknesses."

Blashphemy could not help but chuckle. "They are mere children. One is six! Besides...you know as well as I do that the girl could not even deafeat even Pain if she used all her strength. The other three will merely suffer the same fates as well."

"I see your point," Disease could not help but chuckle, which broke into a coughing fit. "But still...be cautious. I would kill the raven haired girl at least, she has no power, if what you say is true. Then it should not affect the outcome."

"But my plan..." the Evil One started, only for Disease to hold up a finger.

"Either you do...or I will come there and do it myself."

His reflecting faded, and Blasphemy turned to Nya, who tried to scream.

"Don't make this any more painful for yourself." The demon sighed, raising the dagger high above his head, the minimal light reflecting from the blade.

Suddenly, a powerful blue force rammed into him, knocking the demon forcefully into the concrete wall, in which he groaned, feeling one of his ribs cracked, the taste of copper filling his mouth.

"Nya..." The blue ninja flashed his award winning smile. "Are you alright?"

Sighing with relief, Samurai X relaxed her muscles as Jay cut the thick, suffocating ropes. Shakily standing up, she buried her face in his blue ninja suit.

"Thanks." She muttered, rubbing her aching wrists as she stepped back.

"No problem," the blue ninja responsed, smiling as a faint blush spread across his cheeks. They turned to Kai, who was just starting to wake up. Using his pocket knife, the lightning ninja cut the constraints, freeing his companion.

"Thanks Jay." Kai said, before focusing on his sister, who smiled wearily.

"I'm okay, let's just get out of here."

They were suddenly surrounded by a ring of red, tall fire, sprouting from the earth as a deep chuckling echoed behind the three warriors.

Blasphemy had stood up, a nasty cut bleeding from his lip. His eyes, normally pale pink with dark blue irises, were now the same dark blue, but with black sclera. He had a cruel smile on his face. But that was not the worst of it. The demon had a set of dark, blood red horns, as well as a tail.

"You honestly thought that would work?" The Evil One laughed, voice echoing across the room, hollow and demonic.

"Hey," a voice said calmly, behind them demon. "You should leave them alone."

The Evil One turned, to see AJ and Mali standing there, clothes covered in black grease and dirt, what appeared to be tar smeared on their faces. It was as though they'd crawled through a chimney.

"Kids. Get out of here, this isn't your fight." Kai made a shooing motion with his hand. The two creatures didn't budge, and a greasy smile crossed AJ's face.

"You underestimate us." The half snake chuckled, picking up Jays pocket knife, which had fallen into a puddle of water outside of the fire. Flicking up the blade, he turned to Blasphemy, who tilted his head, lost in a world of darkness.

"You...what...are you...?" He hissed. Letting out a full on laugh, the green haired teenager held out the knife.

"My name...is Acidicus Junior...I'm going to destroy the Venomari one day...but I'll have to settle for you today."


	17. Chapter 17

Blasphemy sighed, leaning against the concrete wall. He'd thought for sure that kidnapping the pathetic girl would lead the ninja and their companions in his trap, yet it only made them more oblivious to the bait right in front of their noses.

"You won't get away with this!" Nya cried out indignantly, her voice muffled by the thick fabric tied around her mouth. Rolling his dark blue eyes, the deity of blasphemy turned to the girl, fingers tracing the blade of the golden dagger strapped to his thigh with black leather string. Turning to examine his ebony colored fingernails, his eyes flickered to the samurai girl, who struggled against her constraints, the rope digging into her skin.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It only decreases the amount of time until I kill you." The blond man sighed. Slowly, Nya froze, eyes wide with horror. Beside her lay Jay and Kai, both unconscious, with nasty purple bruises on their foreheads. They'd been tied up as well, but did not struggle, due to having been knocked cold for the last half an hour.

"Blasphemy..." A deep, raspy voice snarled, and the demon flinched, quickly pulling his dagger from his leg. Reflected in the metal was a man, similar in appearance to him.

He had slightly paler grey, slightly greener skin, which looked sweaty and cold underneath his pale brown hair. He wore a simple blue surgeons uniform, yet his mouth was concealed by a bloodied surgery mask, which was fitting, considering he seemed to be in a hospital like surrounding. Strapped around his chest was a belt, normally used for holding bullets, yet in this case, it held many clear syringes of liquid. His eyes, pale green surrounded by a light yellow sclera, were narrowed in anger and annoyance. Crossing his heavily bandaged arms, the man...about twenty three or so, glared at Blasphemy.

"Have you completed your mission yet?" The man asked. The blond sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Not yet Disease...I'm just waiting." Raising an eyebrow in annoyance, the brunette coughed slightly.

"For what exactly? Satan will not be pleased when he realizes you-"

"I know Satan will not be happy!" Blasphemy snapped, hand clenched into a fist. "But I am waiting. You see, I have with me two of the ninja and their sister. I am using them as bait for the other ninja...once they come here..." He snapped his grey fingers. "Right into my trap."

"You forget they have three half breeds and a demon helping them." Disease growled. "They may know your weaknesses."

Blashphemy could not help but chuckle. "They are mere children. One is six! Besides...you know as well as I do that the girl could not even deafeat even Pain if she used all her strength. The other three will merely suffer the same fates as well."

"I see your point," Disease could not help but chuckle, which broke into a coughing fit. "But still...be cautious. I would kill the raven haired girl at least, she has no power, if what you say is true. Then it should not affect the outcome."

"But my plan..." the Evil One started, only for Disease to hold up a finger.

"Either you do...or I will come there and do it myself."

His reflecting faded, and Blasphemy turned to Nya, who tried to scream.

"Don't make this any more painful for yourself." The demon sighed, raising the dagger high above his head, the minimal light reflecting from the blade.

Suddenly, a powerful blue force rammed into him, knocking the demon forcefully into the concrete wall, in which he groaned, feeling one of his ribs cracked, the taste of copper filling his mouth.

"Nya..." The blue ninja flashed his award winning smile. "Are you alright?"

Sighing with relief, Samurai X relaxed her muscles as Jay cut the thick, suffocating ropes. Shakily standing up, she buried her face in his blue ninja suit.

"Thanks." She muttered, rubbing her aching wrists as she stepped back.

"No problem," the blue ninja responsed, smiling as a faint blush spread across his cheeks. They turned to Kai, who was just starting to wake up. Using his pocket knife, the lightning ninja cut the constraints, freeing his companion.

"Thanks Jay." Kai said, before focusing on his sister, who smiled wearily.

"I'm okay, let's just get out of here."

They were suddenly surrounded by a ring of red, tall fire, sprouting from the earth as a deep chuckling echoed behind the three warriors.

Blasphemy had stood up, a nasty cut bleeding from his lip. His eyes, normally pale pink with dark blue irises, were now the same dark blue, but with black sclera. He had a cruel smile on his face. But that was not the worst of it. The demon had a set of dark, blood red horns, as well as a tail.

"You honestly thought that would work?" The Evil One laughed, voice echoing across the room, hollow and demonic.

"Hey," a voice said calmly, behind them demon. "You should leave them alone."

The Evil One turned, to see AJ and Mali standing there, clothes covered in black grease and dirt, what appeared to be tar smeared on their faces. It was as though they'd crawled through a chimney.

"Kids. Get out of here, this isn't your fight." Kai made a shooing motion with his hand. The two creatures didn't budge, and a greasy smile crossed AJ's face.

"You underestimate us." The half snake chuckled, picking up Jays pocket knife, which had fallen into a puddle of water outside of the fire. Flicking up the blade, he turned to Blasphemy, who tilted his head, lost in a world of darkness.

"You...what...are you...?" He hissed. Letting out a full on laugh, the green haired teenager held out the knife.

"My name...is Acidicu Junior...I'm going to destroy the Venomari one day...but I'll have to settle for you today."


	18. Chapter 18

His eyes flickered open weakly, blinking away pain and exhaustion. What confused him was the fact he was no longer in the basement, but in his own bed, the bunk bed he shared with Kade. Kicking off the itchy, blue wool blanket, the half serpentine slid his feet to the ground, the cold floor touching his bare skin.

The door, barely cracked open, allowed little light into the room. The place seemed strangely quiet, and he was confused. Walking to the white door, he shakily gripped the doorknob, and pulled the door open forcefully-

Only to find nothing, but emptiness. Shadows dancing on the walls, he slowly walked towards the living room. It was relatively empty, with the exception of Akira, who was busy playing with a puzzle of a house, and Mali, who was helping him, quietly pointing out certain locations of pieces.

"Hey," he said weakly, taken aback by his voice. It was raspy, and exhausted, and sickening. "Where are the guys?"

"AJ!" Akira leapt up, flying into the weak boys legs, a joyous look on his face. "You're okay!"

AJ looked at Mali, a weary smile on his face. She nodded back slightly, before standing up.

"It's getting late," the demon murmured, glancing at the little rusty and cracked clock sitting against the wall, emitting a loud clicking noise with each movement. "Akira, put your stuff away and get ready for bed. I'll say goodnight soon, ok?"

The small hybrid complied, running down the hall to his room. There was an echoing slam as he shut the door behind him.

"Ok, tell me," AJ slid weakly into the single, stained chair in the room. "Where are the ninja, and how long was I out?"

Pressing a finger to her mouth, the albino girl leaned against the wall, drumming it with her fingers. "You were out...for at least a few hours, and they went to the basement about half an hour ago."

"A few hours huh?" The green haired boy sat up straight, rubbing a hand against his head, feeling a slight gash on his scalp. "Anything serious?"

"Nothing too serious. The cut on your back wasn't deep enough for any long term damage, but you should get some rest."

"Ok," AJ stood up, yawning. "Why did the ninja say they were going to the basement?"

"I don't know." Mali bit her lip. "They just wanted to look around I guess?"

"Plan...Prototype?" Jays eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he took the paper in his hands. "What do my parents have to do with it? We've been close my entire life...they...they wouldn't lie to me."

"But look," Zane pointed to the date on the letter, written in curly handwriting. "This dates back to before your birth. So it must have been important, had it been against our current enemies."

"He's right. Maybe this could be useuful," Kade crossed his arms, one of his katana gripped in his hand. His eyes were narrowed, and there was a nasty cut on his hand. "Of course, there are always the possibilities that-"

"I don't care," Cole interrupted, his own eyes narrowed. "We've already lost Dareth and Misako, if we lose anymore people, then we shouldn't be considered heros."

"We can handle this," Kai said, mostly reassuring himself as he leaned against the wall. "We've handled stuff like this before."

"Only this time," Kade interjected, shooting a minimal glare at the fire ninja, who froze under his gaze. "Many people and creatures will die. Are you prepared to take that risk, are you prepared to face the fear that will possibly haunt you forever?"

"I think we can try," Lloyd smiled slightly, finally speaking. "You see Kade, fear isn't a word where we come from."

The hybrid tilted his head, confusion obvious in his eyes. "I do not-"

"Just forget it," Jay sighed. "I am a little worried we're babysitting a bunch of kids though."

Kade chuckled slightly, eyes twinkling in the darkness. "They will be fine. You saw how AJ handled himself with Blasphemy."

"Yes, but the enemy gradually grows stronger, and I fear this may indeed cause many civilian deaths. We should try to lower the casualty rate as low as we can." Wu stroked his beard, eyes focused on the picture.

"That's why we need these Prototype people! They can help!" Nya argued, waving her arms angrily, the red rope marks still etched into her skin.

"If they listen." Garmadon finally spoke. "They had to shut the project down, remember? It could be dangerous."

"This is already dangerous enough," Kai sighed, brushing a strand of hair from his face. "What choice do we have?"

"He has a point," Jay suddenly had an idea. "Look, why don't we just go ask my parents what this is? Then we can decide if we want to go through with it or not."

"That's actually a good idea," Cole said. "But we should get ready, it's going to be a long journey."

The ninja walked back to Kades home, and waited patiently as Kade pulled out his keys. Knocking hadn't worked, so they had assumed the three were asleep. It was late, after all.

"Be quiet, alright?" The half demon mouthed, stepping into the apartment. It was dark, and silent, little light provided through the cleaned window.

"One moment." There was movement, and a small lamp turned on, providing a bit more dim light.

The small room was empty, and relatively quiet, with the exception of the kitchen sink, slowly dripping water into the metal bowl below.

"I have told that girl to make sure the sink is off." Kade said seriously, turning the knob.

"Alright, let us go to bed now, we can get ready to leave tommorow."

"Tommorow?" Zane raised an eyebrow. "By my calculations, we would need at least three days to prepare."

"Yes," The purple eyed young man chuckled dryly.

"But this is war. They are not giving us time."


	19. Chapter 19

Blasphemy winced, feeling the stab wound on his chest once more. How could he have lost? He'd disappointed Satan, he didn't deserve the title of Blasphemy.

Perhaps it was just that he'd been asleep for a while. That he wasn't quiet used to having his powers back. Before he could think anymore, there was a loud yell outside the room.

The door slammed open, revealing Satan, with Disease behind him. The devil didn't look happy.

"You failed." He said it as if it were a statement, not a question. His tone was calm, yet on the brink of anger.

"Yes brother, I'm sorry." The blond hung his head in shame, unable to meet Satans yellow slits.

There was a loud smack as Satan slapped Blashpmey in the face, drawing blood from his mouth. Growling, the devil stepped back, as if admiring his work.

"I don't want your useless apologies you idiot. I want those ninja dead! And you fail this one simple task!"

Then the grey skinned man turned his attention to Disease, who held a slightly bored and amused look on his face, watching the entire scene unfold before him.

"You take care of those ninja!" Satan spat, jerking a finger towards the door. "I don't care what you do, and I don't care how- Just kill them!"

The pale brunette nodded, quietly leaving as he walked down the hall of the building, towards his room.

The room, in itself, was fairly dirty, the walls and furniture stained with blood. Various syringes littered the ground, some lying in puddles of odd colored liquids. Hanging from the walls were IV cords, as well as multiple sheets of paper. If one were to look closer, they'd see these papers had names and diseases written with utmost care on them.

Sitting down in a chair, the Evil One opened the drawer to a desk, full syringe's rattling around inside. Pondering for a moment or two, he carefully grasped twelve of the syringes, examing the labels.

"These will work." He decided, painfully standing up. Disease then took a roll of bandages, unraveling the dirty blood stained ones wrapped around his arms, hiding the disgusting, bloody and ruined skin beneath. Wrapping on new bandages, the Evil One left to fulfill his mission.


	20. Chapter 20

It wasn't the nauseas feeling that woke him up, it was the loud sounds of simultaneous coughing, all different and sickening. Soon, Kade felt himself resisting the urge to cry out in pain. There was a burning feeling in his chest, like someone had filled oil in his lungs, setting them on fire.

With much difficulty, the hybrid opened his eyes, feeling heat from the window blinding him. It felt like something was wrong.

Finally allowing himself to cough, Kade winced as a sharp pain dug into his throat, then slightly flinched when a cold hand gripped his wrist.

"Wake up." Mali snapped weakly, the purple eyed demon turned his head to see the albino and his younger brother, a strangely green, sickly look on his queasy face, which was decorated with red scabs.

"Kadey, I don't feel good." Akira sunk to his knees, his tiny, shaking fingers gripping the blanket. Painfully sitting up, Kade placed a hand on his sweaty, stringy hair.

"What's wrong?" The young man looked up at his friend, who ran a hand through her own hair, a sigh escaping from her throat. She didn't look well either, there was a sort of rash spread under her eyes and across her nose, a bit of blood sliding down her chin, she was paler than usual, and she looked tired.

"He's been throwing up all morning," Mali leaned against the wall. "Fever too."

"Really?" Sliding to the floor, Kade stood up. "Do you want some medicene?"

The small boy nodded, sniffling as he rubbed his sleeve across his nose. "I think I'm going to-" he finished this with a retching noise, splattering green globules all over the wool blanket.

"I'd better take you to a doctor." The raven haired teen grasped his jacket from the little wooden chair next to his bed. The ninja were long gone.

"I'll get you something," they heard AJ's voice, and a blur as he jumped from his bed, wincing slightly. "I need something myself."

AJ looked horrible, his skin was pale and sweaty, and he was clutching his chest, heavily breathing. His acid green hair stuck in strands to his forehead, and he coughed slightly.

"Good thing we're going to the doctors," Mali said. She'd stepped back when Akira had thrown up, slightly disgusted. "You look horrible."

"Thanks," AJ responded weakly, yet a strong hint of sarcasm laced his voice. "So do you. But I'm fine...just tired. Just need some rest."

"I'm getting my cane." The albino limped to the door. "Kade, you think you can make a portal closer to our place this time?"

"I'll try." The hybrid frowned. "You haven't mastered it yet?"

"No, I'm only thirteen...I'll get the hang of it soon. Just do it okay? I'll get the medicene. I think I need some."

Coughing harshly, the demon left the room.

"AJ," Akira looked up, his wide blue eyes pale. "Is your Martians syndrome bugging you again?"

"Martians?" The half Venomari bore a confused look on his sickly face for a moment, before chuckling painfully. "You mean Marfans? I'm sure I'm okay...don't worry."

The sound of metal hitting the floor grew louder, and Mali reappeared, a piece of paper and a pill bottle in her hand. Biting her lip, she unscrewed the cap, cane hanging in the crook of her arm.

"Here," placing a white pill in each of the boys hands, she then held out the note. "Look at this."

'Hey guys, we woke up really sick. Went to Ninjago to see a doctor. Should be back by tommorow, might stay with Jays parents. Had to ask a few questions anyways.  
>-Cole'<p>

"Just what-" Kade asked the question on everyone's mind. "Is going on?"


	21. Chapter 21

Lloyd coughed into his fist, feeling a warm sticky substance splattered against his hand. Shooting his son a concerned look, Garmadon turned to face his own problems. His hands were shaking, his skin pale and sweaty. His throat was sore, and he had a migraine, not only that...but there was a sickening feeling in his stomach, like he needed to vomit.

The wait to see a proper doctor was excruciating. All the ninja were sick, each with varying symptoms and effects. What had happened? A side effect from the Demon World? An odd virus going around? Or something more?

"Alright," an old, grey haired nurse said shakily, coming from a metal door, blocking off the sick from the patients."Is a Jay Walker here? Jay Walker."

The lightning ninja stood up, instantly clapping a hand to his mouth. He'd woken up with a strange pain in his side, as well as nausea and an odd yellow tint to his skin. Nodding, the ginger limped to the door, giving one last worried glance towards his friends. The day couldn't get any stranger.

Needless to say, the ninja were a bit surprised when AJ, Kade, Mali and Akira limped through the emergency room doors, Mali and AJ leaning on one another for support, and Kade carrying Akira.

"What are you...guys...doing here?" Kai asked, a confused expression on his face. "Don't tell me you're sick too!"

"Sadly yes," Mali said, walking up to the front desk and having a quick conversation with the secretary, who smiled and handed her a surgical mask. "Kind of normal for us."

Sitting in an empty chair, Akira coughed, before crying out in pain and resting his head against Kade, the latter wincing as he pressed two fingers under his jaw.

"It's going to be okay." AJ panted, drool escaping his mouth onto his chin. It sounded as if he was reassuring himself, saying he be okay. But he looked deathly ill, and tired.

A doctor, clad in white with a scruffy brown bear exited the doorway, walking towards Kade, a small smile on his face.

"Hello son," he said calmly, like he knew the children already...did he? "Honestly, this seems like the first time you aren't here on AJ or Mali's account. Finally caught a bug, did you?"

"Yes," Kade wheezed, his purple eyes dim with pain. "All of us...woke up sick."

"I see," The doctor, whose nametag read Smith, looked towards the two teenagers, one of which was coughing heavily, the other slumped down in his seat. "AJ, Mali, come with me. We'll go through our routine first, then I'll see what's wrong. Kade, Akira come with me. I know you four like to stay together, so we'll do this as patiently as we can."

The four creatures followed him, leaving the ninja as they were. Sick and alone in a dark, cramped room.

"Kai?" A man in scrubs asked, holding up a clipboard, a stethoscope hung limply over his neck.

"That'd be...me." The fire ninja then left, leaving three ninja, two Sensei's and a samurai. Well, Zane hadn't been sick, but he was concerned for his companions, and had helped them to get back to Ninjago.

"Cole?" Another old woman questioned, this time leading the black ninja by his hand, unfazed by the fact he was tripping over his feet, skin greying and blood running down his lips. The poor guy could barely walk.

Luckily, the room wasn't crowded, so eventually Wu and Nya got called back into the ward! leaving a sickly Lloyd and his just as ill father.

"Dad," the gold ninja coughed slightly. "What do you think's going on?"

"Not sure," the old man mused, glancing towards the door nervously. Why had the doctor seemed to know his kid so well? Just what were those four hiding? "If I had to guess, another Evil One, Disease, is probably behind this. It's usually his specialty to make people sick."

Then Lloyd was called, leaving the former dark lord alone.

Again.


	22. Chapter 22

"Hepatitis."

Jay kicked his shoe, before releculantly sliding it back on.

"How could I let this happen? I've been healthy all my life. I've taken my medication, had good hygiene, and I got frickin sick!"

His yellowed eyes narrowed, the lightning ninja brushed his stringy wet hair from his face, as he limped down the hall towards the waiting room. A sickening, wretched coughing noise filled his ears, and he peered into the nearest room, the door barely closed.

AJ sat on the examining table, his hair falling in his sweating, pale face as he bent over a plastic pink bedpan, releasing the contents of his stomach. Eventually, the poor boy stopped, weakly lifting his head up as he wiped his arm across his mouth.

"It's...it's just a bug..." He groaned before dipping his head down again. The doctor just stood there, observing the half snake teenager crying out in pain.

"Yes..." The white coat clad man whispered silently, his voice eerily calm. "Just a bug."

Jay decided that was enough spying, and was about to turn when he heard more coughing.

It was the same room, but this time, it was Mali who was coughing. She'd fallen to her knees, hand clapped over her mouth, a familiar red liquid seeping through her fingers, a pained expression on her face. Yet the doctor still stood there, his green eyes unnerving. Watching.

The ginger haired man was about to step away, when he stepped on a pencil, lying about on the cool, tiled ground. The doctors head snapped back, a cruel smile beneath his clean white mask.

"Who's there?" He called out, voice raspy and like steel, hard and cold. "I will find you, I promise you that much."

Jay tried to run, but his illness fueled futile, and a cold hand shot out, tabbing his throat.

"Are you sick, dear boy?" Disease smirked, eyes narrowed under his pale brown hair. "Don't worry, I'll fix that. When I'm done with you-"

He quickly yanked a syringe from his back, holding it to the boys neck.

"You won't feel a thing."


	23. Chapter 23

Blood filled his mouth.

Lloyd stood in the hall, clutching his IV pole, hands shaking and white as he dragged it behind him, like a heavy plastic wagon, dragged down by rain. Only now, it was full of nutrients water.

The doctor had insisted he had acquired something he'd never heard of-  
>Legionnaires' disease...it was, according to the old, wrinkled man, a more dangerous disease in similarity to pneumonia. They'd demanded he spend the night, which he'd done before. When he was small, his appendix had burst, most likely from eating lots of candy. He'd woken up in his large, empty hospital bed, the sheets sticking to his warm, sweaty skin.<p>

Now he was going to go look for his room, in which they'd insisted he spend the night- in the pediatrics ward, great. Lloyd would spend the night with multiple sick, dying and injured children. Luckily the pediatrics ward shared a hall with the infectious diseases ward, so he may have a chance of seeing one of his friends.

There was the noise of squeaking wheels, and a few nurses rushed by, heavily pushing a stretcher, with a limp, familiar teenage boy laying unconscious on it, in a pool of his own vomit.

"Lloyd?" The gold ninja turned, seeing his younger sister looking at him from across the hall, leaning in a doorway. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He questioned. "Just trying to find my room. D'you think you can help?"

"Huh...fine, I guess," His sister took the paper gingerly, examining it. "Oh, I've been in that room a couple of times- I mean, I'm in that room too, it's over here. They usually do it by alphabetical order, and if you get really sick or are really contagious, they put you in the quarantine ward, your own room or the ICU."

"Was that AJ?" Lloyd pointed shakily to the hall in which the stretcher had disappeared, the rolling of wheels still fresh in his mind. "He must be really sick."

"Yeah...he's been having some problems lately..." Red eyes met green as the albino looked up. "With his heart, I mean. It's genetic, don't worry."

"Oh," Lloyd realized Mali must have thought he was worried he'd get sick with what AJ had. "That's a shame, will he get better?"

"He'll be fine," the girl responded, starting to glance down the hall. "He always is."

Lloyd stared absentmindedly at the IV, watching his reflection.

"So, is there a reason you're walking around? Don't you need a doctor?" The albino brushed something from her jacket, not meeting his eyes.

"I did- I mean I do." Lloyd jerked a thumb towards a cracked open door. "They're just filling out some paperwork quickly, before we go."

"Ah, okay," There was the sound of crying down the hall, and a monotone, continuous beep. "That's sad." Lloyd murmered, watching as they led a crying woman down the hall, her sobbing growing quieter.

"What is?" Mali looked where his gaze was. "Someone died?"

"Yeah. It's sad." Lloyd exhaled as the nurse walked from the room, a clipboard wedged between her elbow. Quickly examining his IV, the elderly woman stood up.

"Come on Lloyd, let's get you set up," she pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at the small teenager standing there. "Can I help you?"

"No," She responded, disappearing down the hall.

-

Jays's eyes snapped open, revealing only darkness. He was in a moist, sticky white tiled room, from what he could feel. Was anyone there? Anyone willing to help? He wasn't so sure, and shakily stood up, using the wall as support, only to slide in a puddle of sinister red liquid, his head crashing against the floor painfully.

Reopening his eyes, the lightning ninja realized he was face to face with a bandaged figure.

Jay screamed, backing up into something else, upon spinning around he saw he'd walked into a tall humanoid figure, with soft green hair and goggles placed over his face. Dim marks ran from his eyes to his chin, running under a red and white plaid scarf. He was wearing an odd, slightly futuristic outfit, a black and dim green jacket with black jeans and a shirt. One arm was like a cylinder, lying against his side. The other, robotic and cold.

Jay was about to escape, when the figures goggles and markings lit up, acid green spike like claws shooting from his strange arm, a growl escaping his throat, he pounced on Jay, a foot placed on his chest, claws at his throat.

"Scanning Foreign Contaminant," His voice, deep and raspy, croaked, before he stood up, a groan escaping his arm as he moved his shoulder. "No threat detected."

"Who are you?" His voice was now calm, and slightly more robotic. "You have a familiar DNA reading to one of my masters."

"You-your master?"The lightning ninja muttered, a cold sweat running down his brow. "Who are they?"

"They are-" the green haired creature was cut off by heavy footsteps and laughing. His eyebrows raised slightly, he grasped Jay by the arm, burning him slightly, and dragged him behind the bandaged creature.

"Don't. Say. A. Word."


	24. Chapter 24

"Okay." Jay breathed, feeling a cold chill enter his throat, yellowing eyes widened in panic.

"Good, now I sense you are sick, so follow me as quietly as possible."

He quickly dragged Jay behind a pile of old boxes, waterlogged and stained with what looked suspiciously like blood. He increasing footsteps grew louder, a shadow passing over them, as a dark chuckle escaped Disease's throat, until the passing steps slowly grew quieter, and the evil one disappeared down the hall.

"Let's move. Quickly." The green haired boy breathed, grasping Jay's sleeve as they ran to the best of their ability to the elevator.

Jay stumbled into the small lift, gasping for breath, a sharp pain in his side, his liver- he assumed. Not only that, but the footsteps had changed course, growing louder- towards them.

"Damnit, button isn't working." The green haired boy cursed, quickly poking his head out the elevator door.

"I truly hate to do this to you- going up!" At this, the green haired young man stabbed his claw like hand into the floor, sending out a spread of black, with green wire like lines spreading from his palm. The entire elevator looked like one big computer program, and suddenly, as if by force, shot upwards, knocking Jay to his feet.

With little strength, Jay glanced towards the mint haired boy, who seemed to be enjoying every moment.

Jay allowed his eyes to shut, succumbing to sleep.

He couldn't feel his legs.

Cole tried one more time to move his foot, only for a sharp pain to shoot up his leg, and he winced.

"Give the medicene time to start its course, you could be here a while." The friendly, overly clingy doctor chuckled, closing the plastic blinds in the small room, flooding it with darkness.

"Uh...can you keep the blinds open? It's already dark enough."

"A storm is coming," The brunette doctor mumbled, staring at the closed window. "It will be very dark soon."

Cole felt his eyelids grow heavy. "Is this medicene supposed to make you feel sleepy?"

The man turned, his eyes glowing faintly green, as he slowly removed his face mask, revealing his bloody grin.

"No."


	25. Chapter 25

Disease stared down at the unconscious earth ninja, a sickening smile on his face, eyes slowly dimming. The rest of the job was simple enough; use Cole as a pawn lure the rest of the ninja to the basement, in which he could finally do what Blasphemy and so many others could not...destroy the ninja.

There was no time to lose, and the Evil One took a firm grip on the bed, dragging it towards the door, only to be stopped by a figure, dressed in white.

"Where are you taking my friend?" Zane asked in a steely tone, icy blue eyes narrowed.

"Oh, him? He needs immediate surgery. Have to go now," Disease said calmly, gesturing to Cole, who had a look of severe pain on his sweaty face. "Move."

"I do not believe you," Zane said, gripping the bed as well. "We arrived exactly two hours ago. Surgery takes a while to prepare, and in Coles case, I do not think it is required. So, please put my friend back."

"Are you a doctor?" Disease questioned coldly, eyes flashing in a threatening manner. "If I were to stab you right now, would you know the proper way to take care of it?"

To prove his point, he whipped a scalpel from his pocket, pointing it towards Zane as he spoke. "Move boy." He growled, eyes beginning to glow green once more.

"I don't-" Zane flashed a quick smile, flipping his hood down. "Think so."

Disease let out a feral scream, digging his blade into the startled ice nindroids chest, which emitted blue and white sparks as he fell to his knees, a look of frozen shock in his eyes.

"Like I said-" Disease chuckled, spinning around to face Cole, who had began to cry out, clutching his legs like they were on fire. "You are not a...a..."

He coughed, blood dribbling down his lip. "A...Doctor..."

A hand stuck out of his chest, and Zane laughed back, having stood up, a gaping hole in his chest. "While I may not be a doctor, I am a fighter. And I do not give up."

The momentarily injured demon gagged, falling to his own knees. "You pest..." He coughed up more blood. "You filthy little pest. I ought to kill you right now!"

"Yet, you cannot," Zane smiled. "You are hurt." He started to walk past the fallen enemy, when his eyes flickered. Jaw dropping open, he stared at the wall, unnerving and blank.

"Or can I?" Disease chuckled.

"Are you sure...Shockwave? He looks...dead."

Jays eyes flickered open once more, only to meet face to face with an unusual humanoid figure.

Half his face was a soft pink, the other blue. His eyes and nose covered by thick, night vision goggles, his mouth covered by a black face mask, giving him a soldier like look. Adjusting his black and rainbow jacket, the red haired man chuckled, holding a hand out.

"So, you...are not...dead." He said, his voice comprising of clicks and pausing. "That is...good."

The lightning ninja quickly scanned the room, there were at least seven odd humanoid figures, the youngest looking Mali's age. The oldest, maybe nineteen or twenty. He wasn't sure if he could handle them all at once, if he had to fight, but he could try.

"Don't try to run. It won't do any good." The green haired man from earlier, obviously the oldest, said calmly, his goggles removed, revealing his green eyes with black sclera, which splashed onto his skin, giving it a digital look.

"Wouldn't get...far...anyways," The red headed boy Jay had faced when he'd fallen earlier snickered, crossing his arms. "He's...pathetic."

"Don't be rude!" A girl with pale blue skin and electric blue hair snapped, her eyes similar to the green haired boys. "He is ill. We should help!"

"And why-" a girl about twelve with magenta hair began, when a boy...her twin obviously, finished. "Should we?"

The three began to argue, with Jay watching in shock and fear, until the green haired boy who had saved him earlier raised his voice. "ENOUGH!"

The six froze, eyes wide.

"Yes, I did wake you up once more, yes, I did bring a human with me. But he awoke me in the beginning. He can be trusted, if not-" his green eyes flickered to Jay, who flinched. "He can be dealt with."

"I don't...know...what if he-"

"HackerGlitch. Stop." The green boy commanded, the red headed boy cursed under his breath, crossing his odd, drill like arms over his grey t shirt.

"Who...who are you people?" Jay questioned, reaching for the nearest weapon, a glass shard. "Tell me!"

"Us?" The one called HackerGlitch sneered, his eyes glowing bright red under the bandages heavily wrapped over his face.

"We're your worst nightmare."


	26. Chapter 26

The man walked quickly through the dessert, gold eyes focused intently on the rapidly darkening sky above him. Quickly adjusting the heavy crimson scarf around his neck, he froze, turning his attention on the skyline of the city miles ahead. The dark clouds seemed to be drifting towards the same spot. Walking a few feet away at a brisk pace was his twin brother, almost identical in looks, with the exception of his dark, almost black, gray hair, in contrast to his own black hair.

"We'd better be hurrying," he said in a quick tone, his accent visible. "It's getting dark really quickly." He tightened his grip on their small traveling companion, a small girl with dark stone colored eyes, hidden behind he gray haired mans shadow.

"We'd better be hurrying," she mimicked coldly, in an almost perfect tone of his voice. "It's getting dark really quickly. Grow a backbone, loser."

"I'll gladly let you know, I have a backbone," then in a slightly quieter tone of voice, murmered. "'Least I wasn't abandoned."

"What was that?" The girl snapped, stepping into the fading light. "You know they were not my true parents. I am not required to feel pain for THAT."

"Pain huh?" The black haired boy chuckled under his own breath, eyes darting between the two. "Ironic."

"Let's find a place to stay for the night, if we are to gather our strengths," he quickly added, seeing at the little girls scowl. "Fathers orders. Not mine."

They quickened their pace, heading to a small cluster of mountains, a dim, moist cave nestled between the two.

"Contact your brother." The dark gray man snapped coldly, resting against the limestone wall.

"Yes. Fine. Whatever." The brunette girl growled, pulling away the small axe slung over her shoulder, it's blade stained with rust and crimson.

"Are you there?"

In almost a moment, his harsh, deep voice responded. "Yes, but I'm quiet busy. What?"

"Did you finish your job yet? It's starting to get a bit annoying how Father keeps reprimanding our brother."

"Yes well-" there was a tone of hesitation in his voice, before speaking. "Almost. Not quite, I got a tad...caught up."

"Caught up?" The girl growled, clenching her hands into tiny fists.

"Yes, but it's nothing to fret over, in fact, it might help us."

"It better," relaxing, the brunette sighed. "Do you need any help?"

"No. I don't. Not now at least, I have some things that may help. I'll let you know. I have to get back to work."

"Okay, brother," she spat the word like it was poison. "You better come back."

"I will...I promise."

"That's what SHE said...before-"

"I know," came his cool, icy reply. "I need to go. Goodbye."

"Kadey?"

The hybrid turned, facing his younger brother. Kade had demanded he be with him, as his current condition-pneumonia- was not highly severe.

"Yes Akira?" He asked calmly. The smaller, blue eyes child looked up at him, absentmindedly scratching at one of the scabs littering his face, like stars. He'd been diagnosed with chicken pox, which struck Akira as funny.

"I'm not a chicken!" He'd giggled, before releculantly having his throat checked.

Now he had a solemn expression, and swayed his legs slightly off the examining table. "I had a weird dream."

"That's not much of a statement," Kade mused. "What else?"

"Uh...there was a lot of blood. I think you were there. Somebody kept screaming too. It looked like that guy who took AJ back to see if he was okay."

Kade froze, eyes widened in shock and realization. "Akira, get your coat. We're leaving."

The small, stubborn six year old pouted. "What about Mali and AJ?"

"We can get them first, but we need to leave. Now."

"I'm afraid we cannot leave." A cool, melancholy voice said calmly. Zane stood in the doorway, a peaceful look on his face.

"Move. I'm getting my friends and leaving." Kade growled, yanking his sword from his coat.

Zane's icy blue eyes flickered a bloody crimson, an eerie smile growin on his face.

"I am sorry Kade, but we must all stick together before we leave."

Kade felt something cold strike him in the left side of his face, and he fell unconscious, to his brother screaming.

Cane creating a sort of clicking noise, the albino demon limped down the hallway, not really focusing on anything, just the flickering fluorescent bulb above her.

"Dammit," she cursed slightly, talking to herself. "I'm getting tired of getting stuck in here. This has got to be the what? Tenth time?"

Her eyes flickered brightly, and she let out a sigh, before turning down another hall, facing a large metal door, a bright red EMERGENCY EXIT sign plasters poorly on it, just below a window. Just as she gripped the door handle, a cold, snide voice echoed behind her.

"Young lady, we do not allow people onto the roof." A middle aged, tall skinny nurse sneered, eyes cold and beady.

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Mali waited for the nurse to leave, but the woman simply stood there, crossing her arms, nose pointed in the air.

"Okay, I'll leave," Grumbling something under her breath, the small teenager walked down the hallway, purposefully wacking the woman painfully in the ankle. Yelping, the nurse glared at her. "Oh, sorry."

Getting away from the woman, Mali coughed slightly. "Might as well see how AJ is doing." Gagging, she realized she needed something.

"Shit. Did I forget my cough drops?" Rummaging through her pockets, she groaned, staring at the ceiling. "Yes. I did."

Walking into the nearest room, she opened the cabinet, moving a few boxes. "They have to have one. Dammit."

"What are you looking for?"

Spinning around, she realized it was only Garmadon. "Oh, it's just you," she said coldly. "Nothing."

"I can help you."

"I don't want your help. I haven't needed it anyways." She found a package, rolling her eyes at the slightly tacky picture of a germ with a childish face.

"Where did you-" she coughed. "Aren't you supposed to be with a doctor?"

"I've been here the entire time. He's just getting some chest X-rays." The grey haired man and the albino stood in a sort of silence for a money before he spoke. "Can we-"

"No." The girl replied harshly, shoving the cough drops in her pocket and leaving, only to run into someone.

"Hello," Zane smiled as he twitched, his eyes bright red. Behind him in a bloody heap were Kade and Akira, tight in his grip. Eyes widening slightly, Mali looked up at Zane, who shoved her harshly against the floor, knock gin her unconscious.

"So glad you could join us too."


	27. Chapter 27

"My...worst nightmare?"

Jay absentmindedly reached for his pocket knife, only to remember he'd left it back at Kade's. Mentally cursing himself, he felt anxiety running through his chest, cold and uncomfortable. "I thought...I could trust you!" He wheezed, pointing a finger towards the green haired man, who leaned against the wall, a bored expression on his face.

"And you can," he said in a slight drawl, tossing a small object in he air and catching it. "But now is not the time to fight. We have to move. He knows where we are."

"Who?" Jay gagged, coughing into his hand slightly. "In case you haven't noticed, I can't really do anything."

"Well," a girl, about twelve, with bright red and blue eyes and violet hair sighed, her mouth hidden by a black nurses mask adorned with a red plus sign. She sounded metallic, and walked, with a slightly inhuman speed, towards him. "You're being hunted right? Shock said you rebooted him and almost got kidnapped by somebody, and I think that's why we're in trouble right now."

"Shock...?" The lightning ninja mumbled, confusion washing over him. "Who is that?"

"It's ShockWave," The man with green hair corrected, his eyes flickering in a bright flash of light. "And thank you, Proton. I'll take it from here.

"The point is, Disease was here, unsurprising, as this is a hospital. You unknowingly stumbled upon him, and he wishes to eradicate you. So we must hurry. Now."

He turned, his scarf flying out behind him, and the group of colorful people turned to follow, their attention focused on the long hallway. Jay, still on the ground, quickly tried to stand up, only to fall back, wincing as he rubbed his spine.

"Hurry up," a cool, collected voice mused. It belonged to a girl with mint green hair and pale green skin, eyes similar to ShockWave's. "You don't want to get caught."

"You can wake up now, boy."

Coles eyes shot open, and he instantly sat up, only to regret it as pain rushed through his legs. "Where are you?" He shouted at the darkness surrounding him. "Show yourself!"

He was in a room, full of utter blackness with the exception of a single bare lightbulb, swinging slightly on its thin metal chain.

"In time, dear boy," the mans voice, deep and eerie, snickered slowly. "But until then, lights out."

There was a sharp pop, and the bulb exploded, sending shards of hot glass lightly falling on him.

He could make out other bodies around him, and grew scared. Were they dead? Or just in the same situation as him? He was about to call for help, when he saw a pair of familiar cool blue eyes.

"Zane," he whispered weakly, relief flooding his being. "Man, am I glad to see you-"

"Oh, don't be," Zane's eyes faded to a bright red, his mouth curved in a wicked and bloody grin. "There's still more people we need to be here."

Suddenly, it felt as if someone had dropped a heavy object on his skull, and he fell unconscious again.

The monotone beeping of the many advanced tools in the room were the only noise that Lloyd heard, other than the disgusting noise that was his coughign every few moments. If he were to close his eyes, he could almost imagine he was little again, just like not to long ago, and still sitting in the hospital.

"Lloyd."

His eyes shot open, and he weakly turned his head to face the open doorway. Leaning against the plaster was his father, arms crossed over his chest, a weak and limo grin on his face.

"Oh," his voice softened slightly. "Hey dad."

"Hello," the man walked into the room, his eyes following Lloyd's gaze to the peeling blue paint that coated the walls, revealing a thin crimson coating beneath. "Have you seen your sister?"

Lloyd, slightly wincing from the pain filling his lungs, shook his head, his sweaty blond hair plastered to his head. "No, why?"

Garmadon sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, picking at a piece of blue fabric sticking from the rest. "We had an argument, and she ran off."

"That's too bad," Lloyd responded, shifting slightly. "Just...give her time. This is taking us all a lot to get used too."

"You're right," His father smiled, patting his head. "Sometimes I forget you're still a child."

Shooting his father a look, the teenager glanced at the heart monitor, it's beeping filling the room with a slight buzzing, as well as a soft fluorescent green hue. It looked eerie, almost supernatural.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck here?"

Running a hand through his gray hair, the old man shrugged. "Few days I'd guess, week at most."

The green and gold ninja groaned, in both pain and frustration. "By then, one of those demon things could attack, and we wouldn't be ready."

"This is an attack."

Green eyes widened, Lloyd looked at his father. "Disease is attacking us Lloyd. I went through this years ago. I remember it well. He just disappeared one day...we didn't give it a second thought."

Lloyd nodded slowly, taking it in. "So now he's back...and we're unprepared. Great," he growled, placing a hand on his chest. "What now?"

Then the lights went out.


	28. Chapter 28

"What's going on?"

The patient in the bed across the room sounded terrified, and Kai turned his head to stare at him, his eyelids heavy.

"I don't know," he responded dully, voice scratchy. "The lights went out."

The patient looked at him, his brown eyes wide. "I know that!" He cried out, before breaking into a painful coughing fit. "But why? Did a generator break? Is there a heat storm?"

This time, the fire ninja couldn't help but give the man an angry look. "It's the middle of December, relax, it's probably just a snowstorm and the power has gone out. Do you want me to go to the nurses station and ask for a flashlight?"

Nodding his head frantically, the sick man started rapidly pushing the emergency nurse call button, as if the power would magically come back on.

"I'll be back." Shakily sliding to the floor, Kai limped into the hall. Without the lights, the hospital seemed dark and eerie, and he was on his guard, as something could attack at any moment. Collapsing on the nurses station, Kai sighed.

"Great, nobody is here." He then spotted a shadow on the wall, and head footsteps.

"Hello? Is somebody-"

Kai was cut short as a hand shot out from behind the station and dragged him down. About to fight back, the fire ninja relaxed when he realized it was only Sensei. The old man put a finger to his lips when Kai opened his mouth to speak.

"Do not say a word. He is near." The old teacher mumbled, barely sticking his head out from behind the desk, his breathing quick and panicked.

Waiting for the footsteps to recede, the red ninja turned to his master. "Who is near? What do you mean?"

Stroking his beard, Sensei spoke, a worried gleam in his eyes. "Disease." A slight cough escaped his mouth, but he merely sighed, shaking his head.

"Disease? Is that an enemy?" Kai clenched his hand into a fist. If that bastard touched his sister like Blasphemy had, he would kill him.

"Yes, and I fear we are weaker than I had hoped," Wu responded, standing up with the help of Kai, who'd began rummaging through the contents of the desk. "Let us return to your room, it is best to stay in the shadows, and the rooms are quite dark."

Nodding, Kai led Wu to his room, a small portable book light he'd found in a drawer in his hand, casting a blue light on the walls.

"I'm back, found a little light." Kai murmered to the patient, only for his eyes to widen at what he saw.

"The rules are," Zane said dully, barely looking at the two children. "Quite simple. No murdering unless you win, it will be one on one, and no using powers. Please, since there are two of you, as Cole is incapacitated, decide which of you will fight."

Akira and Mali exchanged glances, as if having a mental conversation, after a quick moment, Akira mumbled something, and their gaze broke apart.

"I will." The albino responded, a nervous look in her eyes, knowing she wouldn't win. Kade was a very good fighter, and would probably win instantly, and if she used what she'd had in mind, it would be considered cheating, and then Akira would probably get hurt too.

"Alright then," Zane said politely, a smile gracing his features. "Let's start."

"Kira, get out of here." The small boy was about to argue, when she shot him a glare, so he quickly started to run, and after a few minutes stopped to look back.

Only to see his friend get ran through with his brother's sword.


	29. Chapter 29

Akira's mouth dropped in slow motion, as his brother turned his head towards him, an eerie smile growing on his face.

"No!" The little boy screamed, running towards his friend, sliding down on his knees. His friend, luckily still breathing, was paler than usual, and barely moving. She was unconscious.

"Wake up," the small child started crying. "Please."

He didn't care that Zane was standing there, laughing like a maniac. He didn't care that Cole was waking up, or that Disease had returned.

"I hate you!" He screamed at Kade, tears running down his face. "You're horrible!"

Kade seemed to snap from his trance at that moment, his purple eyes wide."You...you don't mean it...do you?"

Akira nodded profoundly, his eyes stained red from crying. "I mean it. My Kadey wouldn't hurt his friends. You're not him. I hate you."

It was then Kade looked at his injured friend, and a small gasp escaped his lips. He wasn't scared of what Garmadon or Lloyd might say, just that he had hurt his friend. His shock overwhelmed him so much, he was easily taken control over again.

Then Akira felt something cold grab his arm and nearly shrieked, thinking it one of the eerie mannequin people. But it turned out just to be Mali, a pained look on her face.

"Mali!" Akira whispered, helping his friend while the Zane, Kade and Disease watched in amusement. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Kira," she hissed slowly, her voice shaky. "I told you to get out of here."

Shaking his head, Akira's sweaty black hair flew in his face. "I couldn't leave you! You'd die!"

"So?" The demon growled, managing to sit up with help from the boy. "It wouldn't matter. They'd just kill you too. It might have helped."

"I don't care!" Akira whined, before being yanked back roughly by Kade, the latter holding a sneer on his face.

"As long as the player is alive, the game goes on." Zane recited, his voice monotone and hollow.

"Yes it does, Pet," Disease smiled. "What do you say after this, we find a new game in the green haired boy? Then we shall take on the ninja."

"N..no..." Mali managed, blood slowly dripping from her stomach onto the floor as she got on her knees. "D...don't...I...I'll kill you."

It was then Akira noticed the flickering light between her hands, and his eyes narrowed in confusion. Just what was she trying to do? He realized it and stopped. Hopefully she would, but Kade might know.

"Oh I'm sorry," Disease smirked, his green eyes glowing. "Does that...bother you?"

"Stop it," Akira growled, his large teal eyes narrowed. "You're being mean, stop hurting my friends."

Disease burst out laughing, wiping his eyes with a bandaged hand. "I...I'll stop." He managed through laughter. A bright, optimistic look crossed the young boys face, until a dark one crossed the demon of diseases.

"When you're all dead."

He then reached into his pocket, drawing out a syringe, and throwing it towards the boy.

Kai blinked to make sure what he was seeing was real. After a few times, he decided it was.

Standing in front of him was Jay, surrounded by a few odd looking people, a sheepish look on the ninja of lightnings face.

"Hello," Wu said, scratching his beard slowly, unfazed by the seven people now in the room, literally glowing in the dark. "Who are you?"

The boy with bright green hair stepped forward, slowly lifting his goggles away from his face, his eyes black and green. "Greetings," he responded calmly. "My name is ShockWave, these are my siblings. Can you please tell us the month and day before any information is exchanged?"

"Certainly," how was the old Sensei not frightened by this? ShockWave looked impressed. "It is the month December, the day is the fourth, a Tuesday."

"Thank you," ShockWave nodded. "Now tell me-"

He suddenly lashed out, grabbing Sensei by his kimono. Instantly, Kai and Jay reached for non-existent weapons.

"Why the HELL is Disease here?"

Jay cursed under his breath, until he felt a cold hand grab his arm. It was the blue haired girl, whom he'd quickly learned was named SparkPlug. She was smiling, but it wasn't cruel, just...confused.

"Do not worry," she said calmly. "ShockWave will not harm your Sensei. He just wants answers now."

"Okay," Jay breathed softly, trying to calm down. Sensei was like a second father to him, one he could rely on daily. "Fine."

ShockWave released Sensei Wu from his grasp. "SparkPlug," he spoke slowly, as if saying her name for the first time. "Perimeter check. See who is still alive or injured. Find that damn bastard. Now."

The girl nodded, her eyes flooding a bright blue as she stabbed her plug like arm into the wall, a blue light flooding from it.

"He is in the lowest level of the building. We had best hurry, as he is with other heat signatures. Two of which seem to be children."

"So, he's already begun kidnapping more 'patients'?" A grim look crossed the mans face, as he turned to the door.

"We are leaving, you can get out now." The one called Proton joked, glancing over her shoulder at the patient cowering in the corner of the room, his eyes wide with fear.

"Come." HackerGlitch finally spoke, directing his harsh tone towards the blue and red ninja.

"There is about to be a fight, I think you might want to watch it."


	30. Chapter 30

'No, you need to get up.'

'But he can't now, can he?'

The voices in Coles thoughts kept taunting him to the point he had to weakly turn his head to make sure the girl and boy in his head were not standing behind him.

"I...I can." Cole thought harshly, feeling a cold pain in his numb legs. 'I have to.'

When he finally opened his eyes, the room was quiet, with the exception of light sobbing. Pushing himself out of the pile of blood, that, with a sickening thought, he realized was coming from the nasty gash in his head, he sighed in pain.

"Who...who's there?" The earth ninja managed, his dark brown eyes narrowed in the dark. The sobbing stopped abruptly, and small footsteps echoed across the crimson stained floor. Akira came into view, his once bright teal eyes bloodshot and puffy. Wiping a bloody hand across his eyes, a weary smile broke on his face.

"It...it's just you," a sigh of relief escaped his mouth, and his demeanor changed instantly. "I need help. Please."

"Not so fast." Cole pushed himself into a sitting position, ignoring the dull throbbing in his head. "What about-"

"That guy isn't here. He left, He took Kadey and your friend with him,"Akira took a deep breath. "But please. I really need help."

"What's wrong?" Cole managed to stand up, his legs shaking and more painful than before. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, but he almost did." Akira hastily fumbled with the small syringe sticking from his pocket, the needle dripping a light fluid onto the floor, cleaning away the blood with a hissing noise. Acid, Cole decided.

"Akira," the earth ninja said seriously. "Tell me what happened."

"Kadey is acting weird," the small child finally blurted out, a mess of tears and blood. "His eyes...they don't look right. He is helping that guy and he hurt Mali."

"He hurt Lloyd's sister?" The young man still had trouble remembering Lloyd had a sister, even though it had come as a shock to everyone.

"Yeah, he stabbed her really badly. She won't wake up. But she helped me." Akira managed another tired smile, before collapsing against the floor next to the earth ninja.

"Let me see what I can do." Cole said calmly.

Akira led the leader of the ninja to the unconscious girl. A few inches from her hand was a scythe, the weapon black and extremely sharp. Her shirt was blood stained, and Akira sighed, with difficulty picking up the weapon.

"She did it," he looked up, his face covered in dust and bruises. "Kade had been trying to help her, and she did this. But then she fell asleep."

"Oh..." Cole was unsure how to handle a situation like this. He'd dealt with things like cuts and bruises when training, but never something so severe.

"Yeah," the small boy sniffled, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "You can help right?"

Brushing his raven hair away from his pale, sweaty face. The ninja slowly nodded. "I can try kid, move over."

Akira stepped aside, and Cole sighed as he painfull kneeled down, pressing his fingers to the girls neck. She had a pulse, but it was weak.

'You can do this,' the voice in his head told him. 'They taught you this stuff in school. You just have to apply pressure and keep the person still.'

'But I can't!' Cole argued. 'That thing could come back at any moment and kill us!'

'You can still do it.'

"Sir?"

Startled, Cole snapped back into focus, looking at the small child who'd been hastily plucking a string from his sweatshirt.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should try and escape? This room doesn't have a lot of stuff that could help us." He coughed slightly into his arm, before looking expectantly at Cole, who blinked in surprise.

"I...I guess so."

Shakily standing up, he almost instantly grabbed Akira's arm for support. The boy flinched, but allowed him to regain his composure. The ninja picked up the unconscious demon, and the two limped against the wall, feeling for an exit.

A loud snap made Akira clench tightly to Coles arm, his bright teal eyes wide with horror.

"It's okay," Cole whispered, his own voice cracking with pain and exhaustion. "There's nobody here."

"Don't be so sure."

'Wake up!'

His eyes instantly shot open, only to close quickly again.

"Damn," the young man murmered, placing a hand on his chest and breathing slowly, adjusting to the severe pain. "That hurts."

His gaze led to the multiple IV lines dripping into his arm, and with little haste, he quickly ripped them out, dizziness washing over him.

"Why are...the lights off?" He asked himself slowly. "All I remember is getting attacked...then it went dark."

Nobody answered, and he sighed.

"Of course...I probably...sound crazy...but I should ask a doctor...what happened."

"AJ?"

Said boy spun around to see Lloyd and his father.

"Hey...Lloyd," the half serpentine said weakly, a small grin on his face. "What...happened?"

"We were all injected with some sickness by Disease, the demon of Plague," Garmadon said quietly, leaning in the doorway. "As soon as he's defeated, we should all be healthy again."

'Tell them," the voice in his head spoke hurriedly. 'They deserve to know.'

"In our...case..." He began looking up. "It's...not...that simple.

"Not if we've always been this sick."


	31. Chapter 31

"Who are you?"

Cole stepped in front of Akira, placing the unconscious girl down as he prepared for a possible fight. The green haired man in front of him didn't respond, just merely glanced at him. The earth ninja saw Wu, Kai and Jay standing with the odd people, and it confused him.

"That is not important," the strange man finally said, his voice nonchalant. "Where is Disease?"

"He's gone." Cole responded, equally as calm, his voice raspy and weak.

"He's gone?" A man with crimson red hair and thick bandages concealing his eyes snapped, his scalpel like fingers curling up in frustration. "I wanted to fight!"

"Enough!" Wu snapped, before noticing the two small children. "What happened to my niece and Akira?" Minimal concern laced his tone, like he didn't care.

"We were taken by the guy with grey skin." Akira answered, unfazed by the new possible threat in front of him. He spoke as if everything made sense.

"So Disease was here then?" Jay finally spoke, his face pale and his expression scared. Merely nodding, the mint haired man placed a hand to the wall, a light green glow beneath his fingertips. Quickly conversing with Sensei Wu, the old man stepped forward.

"He was," he said after a moment. "And he will return. Let us go."

"Wait," Cole stepped forward. "This kid is unconscious, and they're both hurt. We won't get very far."

"Then leave them here." ShockWave responded calmly, lifting his goggles up.

"We shall not do that." The old Sensei said, his tone now dangerously low.

"ShockWave," SparkPlug whispered, her eyes wide, mouth agape. "They're children!"

"And there will be casualties in this war, sister," He said slowly, but a sigh quickly escaped his lips. "Very well then, we shall split up, HackerGlitch, take the old man and the children, find a room and fix them up."

The crimson haired man nodded, sprinting past Cole and picking the two up with ease, nodding to Wu, they hurriedly rushed down the hall.

"Now you," ShockWave motioned to Cole, a sneer on his face. "Are coming with us."

"What do you mean, you've always been sick?"

A confused expression was on Lloyd's face, and AJ mentally cursed himself. He'd sworn never to speak of it.

"Now is not the best time..." The green haired boy began, only for Garmadon to cut him off, arms crossed.

"Boy, this could put any of us in danger, you'll be sorry if anyone, especially my children, get hurt, so you had best explain now. What's going on?"

"Fine!" AJ snapped, his voice hoarse and cold. This stopped the two men. "I have this syndrome, it's why I'm so tall, but it affects my heart okay?! That's why I was so sick earlier! But that's not it-" he hesitated slightly, but pushed forward. "Your daughter is sick too!"

"What?" Garmadon froze, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, why else do you think she coughs up blood all the time? It's a fricking disease! Like you'd care though."

"I do care!" The gray haired man finally snapped, stepping forward.

"Oh please," a sick grin crossed the half serpentine boys face. "She hates you anyways."

"Will both of you stop?!" Lloyd hissed, his green eyes focused on the door.  
>"All of this bickering will get us caught, and then you'll both be sorry! Look, we can talk about this later, okay? Now is not the time!"<p>

"You're right Lloyd." Garmadon growled under his breath, his eyes narrowed towards the boy, who was still smiling.

"Lloyd, AJ." A voice said behind them, monotone. Startled, they all spun around, only to sigh.

"It's just you Kade."

"Yes," the demon hybrid smiled slightly, his eyes flashing as he stepped aside. "It's just me."

Their faces paled. Disease was standing there, a smirk on his face as he stepped forward.

"It's nice to finally meet you, ninja boy," his voice, deep and raspy, sent a chill down Lloyd's spine. "Garmadon, good to see you again."

"Sadly, the feeling is not mutual." The former dark lord muttered, eyeing the multiple syringes strapped to Diseases chest.

"Lloyd, AJ, get back." Garmadon said sternly, as he pulled a scalpel off the counter nearby, the perks of being in an examination room.

Disease laughed, which quickly broke into a wet coughing fit. "Please, you intend...to attack me...with that? It's useless against the one who uses it the most."

"I'm still going to try."

A childish, yet horrifying bloody smile spread across the brunettes face. "Very well then."

His head quickly snapped back with a sickening crunch, and he spoke quietly to Zane, who'd been standing silently the whole time.

"No..." Lloyd growled, clenching his fist. "Not Zane."

Nodding, Zane walked off, his movements slow and zombie like.

"Where was I?" The gray skinned demon pondered for a moment, before snapping his fingers together. "That's it! We were going to fight!"

HackerGlitch came to an empty room, throwing Mali limply on the bed.

"Great," he hissed under his breath, eyeing Akira, who was clutching his friends hand. "I finally wake up, and now I'm playing babysitter and surgeon!"

Venting out his frustration, the man walked over to the little albino, unfazed by the amount of blood. In fact, he seemed amused by it.

"Will she be okay?" Akira looked up at him, his eyes wide and brimming with tears.

"Hard to say," HackerGlitch mused, walking to the cabinet and grabbing some essential supplies. Luckily, anesthetic was not needed, not that he cared. "She's lost a lot of blood. Could die."

Akira burst into tears, and the crimson haired man growled.

"Kid, I'm joking, if we do this now, she'll be okay. But I need you to stay quiet okay? The quieter you are, the sooner I'll get this done."

Nodding, the small boy sat down in a plastic waiting chair, his feet swing back and forth as he watched the man work with wide eyes. After about twenty minutes, HackerGlitch stepped back, his shirt and arms bloodstained.

"I've done the best I could," He said. "She should be okay."

Jumping down from his chair, the little boy hugged the young man. "Thank you!" He repeated, his voice barely audible, yet happy and quick.

"Don't mention it," waving his hand, HackerGlitch began to clean up the blood. "What? She your sister or something?"

"No," Akira said, his smile returning. "Mali is my friend. I'm Akira. Akira Hinamori."

There was a loud clatter as HackerGlitch dropped the bloody scalpel, his fingers shaking.

"Hinamori?"


	32. Chapter 32

"Yeah," Akira swung his arms back and forth, a confused expression growing on his face. "Why?"

Quickly recovering from his shock, the crimson haired man took a deep breath. "It's nothing...just...nothing."

Turning away from the small child, he glanced down at his blood stained metal fingers. "Nothing..."

Deciding to change the subject, he strolled over to the sink, running his fingers under cool water- the perks of being waterproof, you didn't get electrocuted or short circuit. "You are friends with this...girl, right?"

"Yeah," Akira responded again, nonchalantly, as his gaze drifted to his friend. "I met her the same time I met AJ."

"AJ?" HackerGlitch questioned, wiping his wet fingers on his grey t-shirt.

"Oh right!" A smile appeared on the little boys face. "You didn't meet AJ yet! You'll like him, he's really cool!"

"That's great." The man muttered, not even listening.

"HackerGlitch!"

Slightly startled, said person instantly looked up, only to realize it was coming from the door. A man, much taller than him with red and blue hair and chunky black goggles leaned on the frame, his mouth concealed by a black mask. Walking into the room, he almost instantly collapsed into the plastic blue chair next to Akira, who flinched.

"You almost done with the kid?" He jerked a hand towards the still unconscious demon, who had a look of severe pain on her face.

"Yeah, I'm done with this crap." Sighing, HackerGlitch pushed his hair from his face.

"Okay, wake her up then, ShockWave wants us to stay together now."

"She's going to slow us down! Do you want to be shut off again!?" The bloodied man snapped, his bandages glowing red slightly. Holding his hands up in a surrender gesture, the taller of the two stood up, walking to Mali, when he felt a cold, metallic hand grab his shoulder.

"I'm talking." HackerGlitch hissed. Shrugging him off, the red haired man shook her shoulder slowly, and she didn't wake up.

"Is she okay?" Akira peered over the chair, watching the tall man, who nodded.

"Don't worry, Hacker here did this right, we just need her to wake up."

He held two of his fingers together, and kept them that way for a moment, until a small strand of purple lightning appeared, a humming sound along with it. The man paused for a moment, before placing his fingers against her wrist.

Mali's eyes shot open, and she weakly sat up, her arm clutching her stomach. She didn't look very happy.

"What the hell?" She muttered, her voice raspy and quiet. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't in the basement any more, and she sighed, before wincing. "Ow."

"Mali!" Akira jumped from his seat, a smile on his face. "You're okay!"

"I guess so," she responded, staring at her bloody shirt. "How'd we get out of that place without dying?"

"Okay," the little boy took a deep breath, his hand resting on his shoulder, which looked oddly twisted. "So, one of your brothers friends was there too, and he woke up after you fell asleep and then we were going to leave, because that grey man had left with Kadey and I think his name was Zane. But then these guys found us, and helped us."

"Thanks," Mali said quietly, not even meeting their eyes. "For helping Kira and everything."

"It's not a big deal," HackerGlitch shrugged it off. "But we have to leave. Now."

Zane walked through the hall, his gaze focused on the window at the end. It had started to rain, and water was pouring heavily down on the streets and buildings outside. Honestly, he was quite amused and surprised nobody had caught on the hospital had hundreds of slowly rotting corpses and no power at the moment.

'This isn't you. Stop.'

His now bright crimson eyes flickered blue for a moment.

"But I must." He responded to himself, his eyes slowly turning crimson.

'You must what? Hurt your friends? Let them die? This isn't you Zane! Snap out of it!'

The ice ninja shut his eyes. "You...you are right. I must help them!"

He turned and ran down the hall, only to nearly run into Sensei Wu, three off his companions, and a group of colourful people.

"Sensei," Zane said quickly. "Disease might be attacking Lloyd and your brother as we speak, we must hurry."

The old man didn't even respond, just nodded. "Then we must indeed hurry."

"Sensei," Kai stepped forward. "Zane and these..." He paused, but spoke nonchalantly. "These...people are the only ones who could really even fight him. They aren't sick!"

"You are right," slowly stroking his beard, Wu continued down the hall. "But we have a weakness against Disease. He tests his own creations...his own diseases...on himself. If we are healthier, we have a better option of defeating him."

"That's sick." Cole said, his eyes wide with disgust. Jay merely nodded.

"Hey!" They heard a voice call out, ShockWaves light claws instantly shot from his hand, and Kai held an arm in front of him.

"Slow down man, it's just my sister."

"Yes," ShockWave paused. "Your sister."

Nya quickly hugged Kai. "I'm glad you're okay."

"We need to hurry!" Electron, Protons twin snapped, finally speaking.

"Indeed." Wu spoke softly, and they were about to continue down the hall, when yet another voice stopped them.

"Shock, I'm done. Let's go."

HackerGlitch and the rainbow haired man- Ray strolled up to them, Mali and Akira limping behind the two.

"By the looks of it, the bastard is that way." Ray pointed towards an open door.

"I shall trust your instinct then," Wu said. "Let's go!"

Disease smirked, holding one of Kades swords above Garmadon, who had a horrified nostalgic look in his eyes.

"Are you ready to finally die Garmadon?" The brunette deity of plague questioned, his green eyes narrowed.

"I think the question is, are you?" A calm, amused voice spoke behind him.


	33. Chapter 33

"Please..." Rolling his sickly jaundice infected eyes, the demon casually brushed his hair from his slate gray, hands resting on his hips. "I'm a demon...you're a...what are you exactly? The ninjas toy?"

A small chuckle escaped his dry throat, and he then let out a deep sigh. "Besides, with that big gaping hole on your chest, you couldn't do much."

Zane, glaring at the monster with his own icy blue eyes, felt the corners of his mouth rise up in a slight smirk. "That is where you are wrong, my friend. For I have help, and you..."

He lunged forward, attempting to throw a harsh punch into the demons spine, but Disease, with years of training and war, quickly spun around, catching his fist with his own bloody gloved hand. Flipping the ice ninja to the ground, he then slowly removed the bloodied paper mask from his as equally bloody chin, his chapped and torn up mouth in its own sickening grin.

"Just what..." He wheezed slightly, bending down with his bones squeaking. "What am I?"

Unable to respond, the platinum haired nindroid placed a hand to his shoulder, which had been split open on impact, the wires poking through titanium and faux skin emitting small sparks and clicks.

"Hey!" A small voice cried out, Akira. The little child had tried to run to his brother, only to be held back by Mali, who was looking worse now, the blood flow steadily increasing on her shirt. While keeping a hand on Akitas hood, she pulled her own hoodie tighter over the large tear in her bloodied shirt.

"Stop Kira," she managed nonchalantly, her eyes bloodshot and dim. "You'll just make things worse."

His own teal eyes narrowed, he finally snapped, shoving her clawed hand away from himself. "Make things worse? How is that gonna happen? We're all gonna die, and you were stabbed! How are things going to get worse!?"

Garmadon looked up, his eyes wide. "You were stabbed?"

Brushing her sticky white hair from her pale face, the demon breathed shakily. "Yes, but it's not important."

The older man was about to speak, but the emotionless look on her face shut his mouth. "To answer your question, Akira," Mali looked down at him, her eyes a bright red. "Would things get worse if your brother died?"

The small six year old had gone pale at the thought of losing his family. "Y-yes...I don't want Kadey to die..."

"Then," for once, the demon smiles slightly, the corners of her mouth that were carved open splitting slightly. "You better do as I damn say and shut your damn mouth."

Nodding shakily, the boy edged away from her, making his way to Kai and Jay, biting his nails behind his sleeves.

"Quite the optimist you are," Disease noted, barely looking up. "Have I seen you before?"

"Probably not," the little albino gritted her teeth, having reverted to her emotionless self. "I'd think I'd remember your ugly ass face."

"How cute," the brunette sneered. "You think you're brave."

"Oi," AJ's own shaky voice said calmly, his eyes twinkling with pain. "Should you really be taking your attention from the main priority?"

Shrugging, Disease chuckled. "I don't quite see one, just a malfunctioning robot and a few dead creatures."

"And all I see," HackerGlitch spoke up, his own voice edging with excitement. "Is a dead bastard."

"HackerGlitch," Disease smiled, his eyes narrowed with recognition and slight fear. "It's been a while."

"Indeed it has!" The redhead said lowly, edging forward. He reached down, plucking Zawn from the ground with ease. The confused nindroid looked at him, in which HackerGlitch shrugged with little doubt and some confidence. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Let's kill this guy."


	34. Chapter 34

"Please..." Rolling his sickly jaundice infected eyes, the demon casually brushed his hair from his slate gray, hands resting on his hips. "I'm a demon...you're a...what are you exactly? The ninjas toy?"

A small chuckle escaped his dry throat, and he then let out a deep sigh. "Besides, with that big gaping hole on your chest, you couldn't do much."

Zane, glaring at the monster with his own icy blue eyes, felt the corners of his mouth rise up in a slight smirk. "That is where you are wrong, my friend. For I have help, and you..."

He lunged forward, attempting to throw a harsh punch into the demons spine, but Disease, with years of training and war, quickly spun around, catching his fist with his own bloody gloved hand. Flipping the ice ninja to the ground, he then slowly removed the bloodied paper mask from his as equally bloody chin, his chapped and torn up mouth in its own sickening grin.

"Just what..." He wheezed slightly, bending down with his bones squeaking. "What am I?"

Unable to respond, the platinum haired nindroid placed a hand to his shoulder, which had been split open on impact, the wires poking through titanium and faux skin emitting small sparks and clicks.

"Hey!" A small voice cried out, Akira. The little child had tried to run to his brother, only to be held back by Mali, who was looking worse now, the blood flow steadily increasing on her shirt. While keeping a hand on Akitas hood, she pulled her own hoodie tighter over the large tear in her bloodied shirt.

"Stop Kira," she managed nonchalantly, her eyes bloodshot and dim. "You'll just make things worse."

His own teal eyes narrowed, he finally snapped, shoving her clawed hand away from himself. "Make things worse? How is that gonna happen? We're all gonna die, and you were stabbed! How are things going to get worse!?"

Garmadon looked up, his eyes wide. "You were stabbed?"

Brushing her sticky white hair from her pale face, the demon breathed shakily. "Yes, but it's not important."

The older man was about to speak, but the emotionless look on her face shut his mouth. "To answer your question, Akira," Mali looked down at him, her eyes a bright red. "Would things get worse if your brother died?"

The small six year old had gone pale at the thought of losing his family. "Y-yes...I don't want Kadey to die..."

"Then," for once, the demon smiles slightly, the corners of her mouth that were carved open splitting slightly. "You better do as I damn say and shut your damn mouth."

Nodding shakily, the boy edged away from her, making his way to Kai and Jay, biting his nails behind his sleeves.

"Quite the optimist you are," Disease noted, barely looking up. "Have I seen you before?"

"Probably not," the little albino gritted her teeth, having reverted to her emotionless self. "I'd think I'd remember your ugly ass face."

"How cute," the brunette sneered. "You think you're brave."

"Oi," AJ's own shaky voice said calmly, his eyes twinkling with pain. "Should you really be taking your attention from the main priority?"

Shrugging, Disease chuckled. "I don't quite see one, just a malfunctioning robot and a few dead creatures."

"And all I see," HackerGlitch spoke up, his own voice edging with excitement. "Is a dead bastard."

"HackerGlitch," Disease smiled, his eyes narrowed with recognition and slight fear. "It's been a while."

"Indeed it has!" The redhead said lowly, edging forward. He reached down, plucking Zawn from the ground with ease. The confused nindroid looked at him, in which HackerGlitch shrugged with little doubt and some confidence. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Let's kill this guy."


	35. Chapter 35

Disease' demeanor had changed, and he stood quietly in the center of the room, unfazed by the fact he was surrounded by ninja. A dark shadow, provided by the darkness, was cast over his eyes, which softly glowed in the light. Eventually, a bright smile spread on his face.

"If you must." He whispered slowly, his hands illuminating with a soft grey light. He then lunged towards the two men, his fists now completely engulfed in flames. Narrowly missing being burnt to a pile of scrap metal, Zane gripped the doorway, allowing Disease to slid into the hall. Yet the demon jumped onto the wall, doing a handstand before landing on the ground. His eyes, now a milky white, were startling and confusing, as his pupils and irises had disappeared, and nobody knew which direction he was looking in- he could've planned to attack anyone.

"Tell me," Disease then spoke, his voice low and darker than it should have been. "Do you plan to avoid me, or merely throw your life away and fight?"

"I could win," Zane mused, stepping in front of Akira and anyone who happened to be near the door. Rolling his shoulders, the taller of the two then charged at Zane, slipping past him and grabbing Akira by the throat. The smaller child struggled, but Disease had a steal like grip, and his breathing eventually slowed, his eyes slowly rolling to the back of his head.

An audible gasp escaped Kai's mouth, and the gray skinned monster slowly turned to face him, a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong? You'll be joining him shortly."

He then reached out, grasping Kai by his own neck, and a startled and pained expression crossed his face. Almost instantly, he released his hold on the fire ninja, revealing the skin on his hand to be a bright red, smoke curdling off of it in thick chunks.

"You burnt me." Disease said calmly, yet his eyes were widened in surprise. Kai, barely able to keep his breathing steady, nodded, pressing himself against the wall.

"Why? Why did you burn me?"

"I don't know!" Kai snapped, stepping forward. This guy was hurting his friends. He needed to stop.

"We can have a fair fight," Disease suggested, he spun around slowly in a circle, taking the time to look everyone in the eyes. "If you are injured, leave and try to stay alive. The victor of this battle will come get you. But you only await your deaths."

When nobody moved, he scoffed. "Or shall I just kill everyone now?"

Slowly, there was a slight scuffle as everyone backed away, different expressions on their faces.

"Now we can properly fight." Disease smirked. He stood next to the window, though the  
>Title light provided did nothing to help provide any sight whatsoever. His hand, which had been a bright red a few moments prior, had already cooled down to black color. A bloody gash was on his wrist from applying too much force in his jump, the bone sticking from his gray skin. It was obvious he didn't have the same skin as any other people. This would have been good, had it not started healing by itself slowly. The burn did not heal however, and remained smoldering in the darkened room. It smelt like rotten flesh.<p>

"Yes," Zane tried to ignore the gaping hole in his chest, and instead focused on Disease, whom had now taken to staring at the huge burn on his hand. "Let's fight then."

Disease did no more than stare at him, and the ice nindroid smirked. "That's what I thought."

The room was small, which would provide a challenge, and it didn't help there were three people in the room. It was dark too, and that meant-

As if on cue, Disease leapt at them, the same fire burning on his open palms, Zane slid across the floor on his stomach, having dodged the same attack. He grabbed the nearest thing to a weapon- a pair of surgical scissors. This would mean he would need to use them as a close range weapon, either a kunai or a shuriken. That would be difficult, as Disease could probably burn him any time. It of the corner of his eye, Zane saw HackerGlitch slip out of the room, his footsteps reverberating down the hall.

'So much for the help.' The nindroid thought bitterly, clutching the titanium scissors in his hands. While Disease did not have a weapon, he did have his syringes, and he didn't know what the heck they even did. If he had to guess, he'd say they had diseases in them, and luckily, wouldn't hurt him.

That gave Zane an idea, staring at his reflection in the glass. Quickly jumping up, he landed a heavy kick on the light, sending thick shards of glass raining down on the two. Grabbing the biggest piece he could reach, the ice ninja threw it, embedding it indirectly in the enemy's throat.

Yet Disease still stood there, slowly pulling the shard from his neck, a trail of blood following the tip, splattering on the floor. "Is that the best you can do?" He chuckled softly.

"No," a voice came from behind, and Disease was sent flying into the wall, a sickening crack echoing from what appeared to be his face. Standing where the Evil One once was was HackerGlitch, who was gripping a crash cart, which he'd ran into Disease with.

"Anybody order a little kick butt?" He asked.


	36. Chapter 36

Disease' demeanor had changed, and he stood quietly in the center of the room, unfazed by the fact he was surrounded by ninja. A dark shadow, provided by the darkness, was cast over his eyes, which softly glowed in the light. Eventually, a bright smile spread on his face.

"If you must." He whispered slowly, his hands illuminating with a soft grey light. He then lunged towards the two men, his fists now completely engulfed in flames. Narrowly missing being burnt to a pile of scrap metal, Zane gripped the doorway, allowing Disease to slid into the hall. Yet the demon jumped onto the wall, doing a handstand before landing on the ground. His eyes, now a milky white, were startling and confusing, as his pupils and irises had disappeared, and nobody knew which direction he was looking in- he could've planned to attack anyone.

"Tell me," Disease then spoke, his voice low and darker than it should have been. "Do you plan to avoid me, or merely throw your life away and fight?"

"I could win," Zane mused, stepping in front of Akira and anyone who happened to be near the door. Rolling his shoulders, the taller of the two then charged at Zane, slipping past him and grabbing Akira by the throat. The smaller child struggled, but Disease had a steal like grip, and his breathing eventually slowed, his eyes slowly rolling to the back of his head.

An audible gasp escaped Kai's mouth, and the gray skinned monster slowly turned to face him, a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong? You'll be joining him shortly."

He then reached out, grasping Kai by his own neck, and a startled and pained expression crossed his face. Almost instantly, he released his hold on the fire ninja, revealing the skin on his hand to be a bright red, smoke curdling off of it in thick chunks.

"You burnt me." Disease said calmly, yet his eyes were widened in surprise. Kai, barely able to keep his breathing steady, nodded, pressing himself against the wall.

"Why? Why did you burn me?"

"I don't know!" Kai snapped, stepping forward. This guy was hurting his friends. He needed to stop.

"We can have a fair fight," Disease suggested, he spun around slowly in a circle, taking the time to look everyone in the eyes. "If you are injured, leave and try to stay alive. The victor of this battle will come get you. But you only await your deaths."

When nobody moved, he scoffed. "Or shall I just kill everyone now?"

Slowly, there was a slight scuffle as everyone backed away, different expressions on their faces.

"Now we can properly fight." Disease smirked. He stood next to the window, though the  
>Title light provided did nothing to help provide any sight whatsoever. His hand, which had been a bright red a few moments prior, had already cooled down to black color. A bloody gash was on his wrist from applying too much force in his jump, the bone sticking from his gray skin. It was obvious he didn't have the same skin as any other people. This would have been good, had it not started healing by itself slowly. The burn did not heal however, and remained smoldering in the darkened room. It smelt like rotten flesh.<p>

"Yes," Zane tried to ignore the gaping hole in his chest, and instead focused on Disease, whom had now taken to staring at the huge burn on his hand. "Let's fight then."

Disease did no more than stare at him, and the ice nindroid smirked. "That's what I thought."

The room was small, which would provide a challenge, and it didn't help there were three people in the room. It was dark too, and that meant-

As if on cue, Disease leapt at them, the same fire burning on his open palms, Zane slid across the floor on his stomach, having dodged the same attack. He grabbed the nearest thing to a weapon- a pair of surgical scissors. This would mean he would need to use them as a close range weapon, either a kunai or a shuriken. That would be difficult, as Disease could probably burn him any time. It of the corner of his eye, Zane saw HackerGlitch slip out of the room, his footsteps reverberating down the hall.

'So much for the help.' The nindroid thought bitterly, clutching the titanium scissors in his hands. While Disease did not have a weapon, he did have his syringes, and he didn't know what the heck they even did. If he had to guess, he'd say they had diseases in them, and luckily, wouldn't hurt him.

That gave Zane an idea, staring at his reflection in the glass. Quickly jumping up, he landed a heavy kick on the light, sending thick shards of glass raining down on the two. Grabbing the biggest piece he could reach, the ice ninja threw it, embedding it indirectly in the enemy's throat.

Yet Disease still stood there, slowly pulling the shard from his neck, a trail of blood following the tip, splattering on the floor. "Is that the best you can do?" He chuckled softly.

"No," a voice came from behind, and Disease was sent flying into the wall, a sickening crack echoing from what appeared to be his face. Standing where the Evil One once was was HackerGlitch, who was gripping a crash cart, which he'd ran into Disease with.

"Anybody order a little kick butt?" He asked.


	37. Chapter 37

Enjoy!

Chapter 37

Disease stood up, a thick trail of blood dripping from his nose to the floor. A sick grin was on his face once more, as he limped slowly towards the two, his fingertips leaving a crimson stain on the wall.a dark shadow seemed to cover his face as he laughed, the noise sickening and disgusting.

"Honestly?" He said nonchalantly, eyes narrowed. "That's the best you can come up with?"

HackerGlitch merely shrugged, motioning to one of his arms, which was a drill. "This could work too."

The sickness deity rolled his eyes, digging his fingers into the wall. "But what good does a crash cart do? Other than carry worthless supplies...nothing."

Zane, who'd been eying the crash cart wearily, noticed something, and a small grin grew on his face as he slowly inched towards it, quickly grabbing it.

"Yes..." HackerGlitch leaned against the metal red cart, staring at the ceiling with what could have been a bored expression. "But, it did incapacitate you."

Disease shrugged. "Not for long though," It was then he noticed Zane standing there, fumbling with something in his hands and flicked his fingers, a small white flame growing in his palm until it completely engulfed his fist. "Besides...I'm not that easy to destroy."

"That's not quite true," Zane glanced up, chuckling slightly. "You did just wake up, your powers might not be at full strength."

The brunette glared at him, turning to face him as he stepped forward, the fire dangerously close to the nindroid. "What would you know...robot?"

"I know that you intend to hurt my friends," the ice ninja spoke softly. "I know you are not at full strength. And-" he looked up, his eyes a bright, icy blue that seemed to glow. "I know we will defeat you."

"I'd like to see you try," Disease sneered. "You can't land any permanent damage on me...how could you possibly defeat me?"

It was then Zane held up the object he was putting his faith in- the small white and red box. But, it was enough to make Disease laugh shakily, face pale.

"T-that? You're going to defeat me with a box?"

The blond nodded to the crimson haired creature, who, when Disease wasn't looking, leapt at him, his drill like arm spinning as he dug it into the demons arm.

It was quite sickening to look at, and Zane had to act quickly, pulling a stick from the box and lighting it as he slowly walked to Disease, who was surprised as he watched in shock as his arm was shredded off, bone and skin sticking to the drill. HackerGlitch stepped back, admiring his work.

Disease was ready for his arm to regenerate, when he felt a stinging feeling on his torn limb, and caught sight of the small orange flame rapidly consuming his flesh. He was being burned.

When the flame died out, the skin where his arm should have been was black and charred, blood spilling from destroyed blood vessels and veins. "You...idiots..." He growled, landing a heavy blow to the face on HackerGlitch with his one remaining arm. The man fell back, the skin from half his face gone, revealing the sparking black and red hard drive beneath. "What have you done to me?"

Standing up shakily, he almost cried out at the sight of his arm. It was then HackerGltich rose behind him, half the bandages ripped from his face, his black and red eye glowing as he then dug the drill into his chest.

"No..no!" Disease tried to escape, but instead settled for hitting Zane, the nindroid falling into the wall, his arm cracking. "Stop it!"

At this point, the demon sounded like a small toddler, whining over something so incredibly ridiculous it was funny. Zane rose as well, picking up the matches with his arm, which had also lost some of its artificial covering. The crimson haired robot stepped back, chuckling as Zaen quickly lit another match, this time throwing it in the monsters open chest cavity.

All Disease could do was limp back, his expression horrified as he watched himself burn to death, then as he gave the two one last glare, full of pure hatred, he mouthed. "I hate you..." before collapsing to his knees, fading to the same black dust as his brother.

He'd failed.

Satan would NOT be happy about that.

Holy crap it's over...it's finally done...this Disease Arc is done...^


	38. Chapter 38

"You failed me."

Disease flinched at the devils tone, before speaking, his normally deep voice shaky and raspy. "Y-yes...but how was I supposed to know-"

"Do I LOOK like I care?" Satan mused calmly, his eyes glowing a jet black underneath his crimson hair. "You failed. End of story."

The brunette demon stepped back. "Does Father know?"

There was dark laughter as Satan stood up, the crimson armor he was wearing reflecting the souls of the damned. "You stupid...stupid idiot..."

He suddenly pulled Disease by his shirt collar so their eyes met, a cold sneer growing on his face. "Of course Father knows! And now the ninja are expecting another attack!"

He then sighed, spinning around to walk back to the center of the room, staring once more at the stained glass pictures. "Father is pleased with you though."

"He- he is?" Disease asked hopefully, his expression lighting up. Shrugging, Satan held out his palms, which lit up with a bright red and purple fire...both of which were very familiar.

"He is pleased you managed to almost kill his former hosts children. Do not think you are not getting punished." He smiled once more, and Disease felt the same burning feeling as before, only to look down in shock as flames spread up his legs, then focused on Satan.

"Goodnight...brother." The devil sneered, watching his brother disappear, then a tired and angry look spread across his face, and he picked up a stone, shattering it against the ground as he threw it with all his strength.

"It's bad enough I'm trapped in Hell. Yet they continue to fail me!" He said, his tone increasing in volume. "If I could just get enough power...then...that's it!" Satan quickly strode to a table, snickering as he grabbed his weapon of choice- a gold trident dripping with black liquid. The metals reflection moved, like water, and someone answered.

"Hello..." Satan smiled. "I need you to do me a favor..."

"Hey."

Kade quickly shoved whatever he was holding in his pocket, before turning to face Mali.

"What? Have you ever heard of privacy?" The hybrid hissed, his purple eyes flashing as he held a hand up to his forehead.

Sure enough, when Disease was defeated, Kade had stopped being controlled. It had felt...weird. Like he knew what was going on, but couldn't help himself. The worse part was when he snapped out of it, his friends were scared of him. Well, he thought. He could never tell what Mali was thinking, she was just as emotionless as him, and AJ was always too damn annoying.

"Does it look like I care?" The younger of the two questioned. "SparkPlug..or whatever her name is, is looking for you."

Confusion crossed the hybrids expression, and he stood up. "Alright. Thank you. How's your stab wound doing?"

"Meh," the demon responded, scratching at her stitches. "It hurts...but I'll live..we always live through this stuff, don't we?"

"We do." Kade couldn't help but smile slightly as he walked off to find the robot girl, then stopped. "I heard you summoned a weapon. You've gotten stronger."

"I- really?" Mali looked a bit hopeful, until he spoke again.

"That doesn't mean you still don't have to learn to use your powers." At this, he left, leaving her cursing.

"You needed me?" He questioned, crossing his arms as he looked at the blue haired girl.

"Yes..." SparkPlug stared down at her feet, the floor suddenly interesting. "I wanted...to apologize for shocking you."

"It's fine." Kade shrugged her off, waving his hand. "Much worse has happened to everyone today. A little static cling won't affect me."

The two sat in silence for a moment, until she asked. "I saw how you take care of your brother, don't you have parents who can watch him?"

"They..." Kade drifted off. "They're dead."

"Oh," She responded, just as quiet. "I'm sorry...how?"

"My father was murdered...and I don't want to talk about my mother...it brings back a lot of bad memories." The raven haired boy flicked something from his coat.

"I didn't have parents." SparkPlug said softly.

"That's a shame," Kade spoke. "Is there any other reason you called me here?"

"Yes...I wanted to ask, are you going to apologize to your friends for hurting them?" She looked up at him curiously.

"No," Kade said. "Why would I?"

"Y-you impaled one of them, and almost killed the others!" SparkPlug said incredulously, eyes wide.

"And they don't care." Kade told her.

Much to his surprise, the girl shoved him. "You have too much pride!"

"How?" The boy asked.

"You refuse to apologize for something you did!" She shoved him again.

"Well, I was being controlled. Why should I?"

At this, Kade rose, walking away.

As soon as Zane and HackerGlitch had found the ninja, everyone had immediately been relieved when the power returned, glad to finally leave the hospital after what seemed like days.

"You do understand you won't be able to go home, right?" Garmadon had asked Akira, who nodded. "You're all in too much danger to be alone."

They'd decided to hide out away from the city, to lower the casualty rate.

Of course, that hadn't gone well.

To get out of the city, they'd needed to pass THROUGH the city, and news of the hospital massacre had spread fast. Hundreds had died without life support...some even in the middle of surgery. It must have been horrifying to wake up and find yourself in severe pain with a huge opening in your body.

"It will be too hard to get through the city, too many of us are injured." Cole spoke quickly, rushing the group into an alley.

"There are others places, Ignacia isn't very populated during the winter. Farming isn't good. And our house is still there." Nya suggested.

"Okay, fine, how long does it take to get there?"

"From Ninjago...about a day?" Kai estimated. Letting out a groan of frustration, the earth ninja sighed.

"Okay. Let's do that. It is the closest place by foot anyways. Let's just go."

"Actually-" ShockWave interrupted. "We wish to go see if our creators are still alive. It was nice helping you."

"But what about-" the mint haired man cut Lloyd off.

"We can handle ourselves. Don't try to find us. We will come to you." Then they walked away, leaving the ninja in silence.

Now they were on the path to Ignacia, a small, slender dirt road that led through some woods, the path covered by leaves and twigs. They'd decided to move quickly, in case they were attacked again.

"It will be dark by the time we get there," Wu stared at the sky, who he as growing dark. "Let us stay here for the night, and continue at dawn. We need firewood."

"I'll get it." Mali rose, walking off the path.

"Wait, I'll go too." Lloyd followed her.

"It's dark in here." Lloyd said, as the two siblings stepped over a log, as his sister looked at him.

"Of course it is. It's night."

"You don't smile a lot, do you?" Lloyd grumbled, picking up some sticks. There was a dark growl, and he turned to face the albino, who was looking at him.

"You don't need to growl at me." Lloyd snapped, adjusting the bundle of sticks.

"Wasn't me," Mali responded, and her eyes narrowed. "But it's familiar."

Then they noticed they weren't alone.

Kadeys got a girlfriend~


	39. Chapter 39

AH SNAP

"Ok," Lloyd stepped forward, a soft glow of yellow light in his palm. "Whoever you are, come out- NOW."

There was the sound of a branch snapping, and three large figure stepped out of the shadows, obviously not human.

The first one resembled something between a snake and a human. He- Lloyd was going to assume it was a man- had pale yellowing skin, with what appeared to be patches of forest green scales coating his skin, complete with two little white horns poking out of the top of his sickly coloured blond hair. After blinking his brown eyes for a moment, he smiled, revealing his snake like fangs. He wore nothing more than a few brown, ragged clothes.

The second was slightly more masculine and humanoid, wearing what appeared to be a tuxedo shirt and black dress pants. In his hand was what looked like a dagger; the handle strongly resembling a bone, the blade dull and stained with crimson. From what the two could tell, his skin was red, literally red. His hair was black, and he wore a traditional Oni mask- like one would see in a book.

The third- it was nearly impossible to tell WHAT it was. It looked as if someone had taken a person, and burnt them so any features were unrecognizable. It looked like a corpse, with jet black skin, and no facial features other than a mouth, with shark like teeth. It had long black hair, and was wearing a hospital gown stained with blood. Holding one of its hands up, Lloyd saw it had a bright blue eye on its palm. Charming.

"Okay, mind telling me how you find these familiar?" The gold/green ninja questioned, not taking his eyes away from the three creatures.

"Demons." Was all the girl responded with, claws held out in front of her.

"Demons?!" Lloyd snapped, eyes wide. "But...how...?"

"How come I don't look as freakish as them?" The girl rolled her eyes. "It's simple. When I turn fourteen, I'll turn into something like one of these...delightful creatures."

"Okay..." Lloyd drifted off, and suddenly the red skinned demon spoke.

"Est quod vis ..." * His voice was classy, and he had a strange accent. The snake like demon seemed a bit insane, and was rocking back and forth on his feet, eyes wide.

"Quid est, quod nothus?"* Mali stepped forward, eyes narrowed.

"Sanguis tuus."* The raven haired monster chided, chuckling as it stepped forward.

"What did it say?" Lloyd asked quietly, the albino looked up at him.

"He wants our blood." she muttered back.

"Si daemon, quid circa hominem mortalem?"* The blackened demon questioned, it's voice sickening, like a dry cough.

"It doesn't concern you." The albino demon said, as the two siblings were backed up against a tree.

"Sed tamen anyways. Iam non sunt nisi duo corpora!"* The snake demon chanted, a huge smile on his face as he reached out to cut into Lloyd's face. A thin stream of crimson sprouted at the blond young mans cheek, and the demon wiped it off with a finger, licking it off with his tongue.

"Sweet." He said, in poor English. Chuckling slightly, he reached into a fold in his clothes, pulling out a knife, when Mali kicked it from his hand.

"Nice shot." Lloyd muttered, shoving the masked demon and the burnt demon away.

"Thanks, usually I can't do that." The girl chuckled, swiping her claws at the snake demon, ripping into the fabric of his shirt. He hissed in pain, cutting into her arm with the knife.

"How do we defeat these?" Lloyd snapped, knocking the burnt demon off his feet.

"You wouldn't happen to have any iron on you?" His sister responded, shoving away one of the three demons.

"Sorry, I'm all out." Lloyd said sarcastically.

"Well, this works too-" Mali spun around, digging her claws into the snake demons leg. He hissed once more, and picked the girl up by her throat.

"Enough joking." He growled, slamming her against a tree. This distracted Lloyd, and he too was quickly in the same situation.

"Eat quickly," the masked demon said, in perfect English. "This place is guarded. I don't want to-"

He was cut off by something embedding itself in his throat, and giving one last cry, he died. Standing behind him, sword covered in his blood, was a...samurai?

They wore a black gi, with blood red armor covering their chest. On top of their head was a crimson and gold helmet, the only facial features visible their forest green eyes and strands of blond hair.

The armored warrior quickly shoved the two demons aside, pulling another sword from their back. The blackened demon tried to sneak up on them from behind, but was quickly decapitated in one fast movement. The snake demon stood, started.

"If you don't want to die-" the samurai growled at him, their voice muffled by the helmet. "Then GO!"

At this last word, the snake demon ran away, leaving the two with the armored person.

"Thanks." Lloyd muttered, staring at the person.

"You're a demon too?" Was all they said, sword pointed towards Mali, who wasn't fazed by any of it.

"She's with me, don't worry," Lloyd responded, startled. "Uh...we really should be getting back...thanks again..."

"I'm taking you two back where you came from," the samurai snarled, grabbing them both by their arms. "I have more important things to do then babysit teenagers."

The two exchanged a look, before releculantly leading the samurai back to their current resting place.

"Who's that?" Kai asked suspiciously, glaring at the demon girl. He didn't trust her, and she didn't like him. In her opinion, Kai was rude and obnoxious.

Wu and Garmadon were strangely silent, and the samurai took notice, their eyes widened slightly.

"Hello Garmadon," they bowed, hands shaking. "Wu."

"It...it's been a while..." The samurai said, lifting their helmet from their face.

It came as a shock to everyone.

It was a woman with long spiky blond hair, which fell in her forest green eyes. She had a slightly angry, slightly received look on her face.

"Dad...you know this woman?" Lloyd asked, Mali was silent.

"Yes...I do..." The older man said, looking at the two.

"This is your mother."


	40. Chapter 40

40

The forest grew quiet, with the exception of crickets chirping in the distance. Everyone had looks of mixed emotion- shock, surprise, emptiness, guilt. But no one was as a shocked as the two siblings, both of which were staring at the mud and snow caked grass at their feet. Eventually Lloyd spoke, his voice strained.

"Our...mother?"

The samurai gripped her sword tightly, keeping her composure together. "Hello," she said finally, placing the weapon down. "It's been a while since I've last seen the two of you."

The siblings just stared at her, until eventually, Mali looked up, her eyes narrowed.

"Can't you just go back to the hell hole you came from?" Before running-literally at the blink of an eye, back into the woods.

"Wait! I-" the woman sunk down to the ground, head in her hands. "Oh, forget it. She won't listen."

AJ rose, looking slightly at the woman. "It's...it's nice to meet you." Before following his friend- leaving Lloyd by himself.

"If you'd like, I can explain." Amara said quietly, finally looking up. She had his eyes.

'No.' The ninja thought. 'Don't run away like with Misako. Hear her out first.'

"Fine," Lloyd responded calmly. "Talk."

"I'm not going back out there."

AJ crossed his arms, staring at his friend. She turned, looking back at him, her eyes glowing a soft, bright red.

"You said you wanted to find out more about your family," the serpentine boy said softly, gripping her arm. "Now's your chance...who knows, maybe she has a reason for leaving?"

"I'll give you a reason," the girl hissed. "Nobody wants a demon in their family."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is!" She snapped, her tone increasingly dangerous. "It's why we don't have families, they don't care! We're freaks to them!"

The green haired teenager grew silent, before speaking slowly. "Fine." And leaning against a tree.

The demon girl stood in the silence for a moment, before quickly turning around and punching a tree as hard as she could, her bones cracking. AJ looked up, startled.

"Damnit!" She winced, looking down at her now bloody and mangled hand with bright, glowing red eyes.

"I know you've already heard the story of the First Spinjitzu Master, so I'll save you the excruciating details."

The group was sitting down around a barely warm campfire, all watching the samurai woman as she began her story.

"I'm guessing you met my sister," Amara said quietly. "What did she tell you?"

"That she knew I'd have to fight my father one day," he responded. "Then she proceeded to tell me stuff we already knew."

Amara smiled. "That sounds like Misako. How is she?"

Everyone froze, unsure how to tell the woman her sister was nothing more than a corpse.

"I'm sorry but...Misako...is dead." Zane muttered quietly.

Much to everyone surprise, the woman was calm.

"Oh," She said in a quiet voice. "I-I...really?"

The woman sunk down to the ground, staring at the flames.

"I-I'm sorry. She was really a good person," Cole exclaimed, sitting next to her. "Believe me...I know what it's like to lose somebody."

"She always said I would die before her. Because I was 'reckless'," she chuckled, wiping her face with her sleeve. "She was wrong. But...when did it happen?"

"About two weeks ago. We all just recently got out of the hospital." Nya responded, running a hand through her hair. She was tired from sitting in a hospital bed for days, as it had turned out Disease's 'curse' lasted a week after he was killed.

"Why?!" The older woman questioned, eyes wide.

"Disease doesn't play fair," Wu said for the first time. "It is good to see you again Amara."

"Likewise," the samurai murmured. "Have you defeated any of the Evil Ones yet?"

"Y-yeah," Akira yawned. "We defeated the guy with the star thing on his face, and Disease."

"Then there are three more," The samurai stood up. "Will you need any help?"

"Considering how we all almost died, we need all the help we can get!" Kai groaned, rising as well.

"Then if you don't want to die, it's best we move as quickly as possible. I know somewhere we can stay." The samurai smiled faintly, her eyes slightly red from crying.

"I'm going to get AJ and Mali." Kade took one of his deep, heavy breaths, standing up and walking into the trees.

A few minutes later, he was quickly exiting the woods.

"Where are they?" Akira asked his brother, concerned.

"They're _gone_."


	41. Chapter 41

The small roadside place was fairly busy, perfect for hiding. Nobody payed any attention the the two people sitting in the very back of the bar, instead focusing on their own business.

Meanwhile, the demon and the half serpentine were both ignoring other, their hoods both pulled up over their hair. One of the 'perks' of not being human. You had to hide in public. But the two didn't seem happy, AJ didn't at least. He was angrily ripping up a napkin, his best friend sitting across from him, barely listening to one of those bands that usually played late at night, trying to get attention. They weren't half bad though.

"We could have stayed." AJ finally muttered coldly, shooting a look at the demon every few minutes. Chuckling slightly, Mali looked up at him, her hair for once, not in her face. Her eye wasn't even normal, while it was bloody like the other, it was all scarred up, and had a pentagram instead of a pupil or irise.

"We really couldn't," She responded softly, brushing her hair back into place with her fingers. "They wouldn't understand."

"Maybe they would." The half serpentine literally hissed, staring angrily up at the dim lighting. It hurt his eyes.

"Or they wouldn't," Mali smiled slightly. "You're too damn optimistic, you know that?"

"And you're too damn short." AJ responded, scratching at his scales. The albino growled slightly, her eyes bright red.

"Shut up bastard."

The two were so busy bickering, they didn't notice a waitress walking up to them, a bored expression on her face.

"Excuse me," she said, popping the gum in her mouth as she lazily held up her notepad and pencil. "But do you kids want anything to drink?"

She didn't even care they were in a bar full of drunk people. She probably thought their parents were there.

"Yeah," Mali cleared her throat. "Whatever you have on tap."

AJ glanced at her, but looked at the waitress. "Uh, water."

"I'll need some ID." The blond woman drawled out, ready to just go home.

Mali absentmindedly tapped her claws against the table, looking at the woman, who instantly paled.

"Yes. I'll get your drinks right back to you."

She walked away, leaving the two alone.

"How long do you plan on staying here?"

"I don't know. Just be patient."

The waitress returned some five minutes later, placing the drinks on the table and a kids menu, which she gave to the demon, AJ snickering slightly. "I'll give you some time." The woman spoke hurriedly, walking into the kitchen. Ripping up the menu, Mali threw it to the ground.

"See. Short."

"I. Said. Shut. Up."

This continued for an hour or two, and eventually ended up with the demon half asleep on the table from exhaustion. AJ looked at the clock hanging above the restrooms, and noticed it was twelve thirty, marking two official days since they'd ran from the ninja.

"Mali," he whispered, shaking her arm. "Wake up."

"Huh?" She muttered, blinking slowly. "What time is it?"

"Late," he smiled slightly, peeling a bloody napkin away from her face. "There's a motel down the street, want to just stay there for the night?"

"We don't...have the money." She yawned, and AJ quickly checked his pockets.

"No, it's like twenty dollars a night. We're fine. We've got more than enough."

"You stole from Kade's wallet didn't you?" She chuckled at his amused expression. "Fine...let me just...I'll be right back."

She sluggishly stood up, limping to the restroom, leaving AJ alone with the bill.

Mali slowly removed her hood, staring with a bemused expression at her new..horns.

They must have come when she was really angry. That didn't bug her or anything, they weren't even that big, and the similar color of her claws, black. But she really didn't want to deal with the ninja, or any more attention, so she'd ran off. Not to mention the fact she was mad at her family at the moment.

Splashing some cold water on her bloody face, the demon looked up, instantly regretting it. Standing behind her, staring in the mirror was a teenage girl, a few years older than her, her brown eyes wide in shock and horror. Slowly, she reached into her pocket, pulling out a hot pink cellphone, shakily taking a picture. Startled by the flash, Mali turned around, holding her claws up.

"Monster!" The girl shrieked, her voice slurred. She was obviously drunk. Spinning around, she tried to open the door. "Help!"

Mali clenched her fist, trying not to snap at the girl. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl didn't listen however, and kept screaming. Yeah...she was really drunk.

"Be quiet." The albino snarled, stepping back, as the girl grabbed her purse, swinging it forward. It hit the other girl forcefully on the nose, and Mali instantly grabbed her face, feeling blood spurting from her nose. It felt broken.

"Help me!" The brunette girl kept screaming, and eventually it happened.

She snapped.

"I said SHUT UP!"

The girl screamed once more.


	42. Chapter 42

The small group trudged through the forest, the rising sun concealed by the thick branches of the trees and vines. Even though they were quite worried about the two missing teenagers, Kade had assured them that Mali did this a lot, and might have dragged AJ with her. While it did help a bit, they were still, nonetheless concerned.

"I wonder why nobody has attacked us yet." Cole mused, ducking under a loose branch. Kai groaned, shooting the earth ninja a harsh look.

"Please. Don't jinx us," Kai then looked at Lloyd's mother, who'd been leading them to what could have been a trap. The blond woman hadn't said anything the entire hike through the forest, instead focusing on cutting down vines with her sword. "Where are we anyways?"

"Close." Was the samurais muffled reply. Rolling his eyes, the ninja kept walking forward, trying to avoid getting bitten or stung by the mass quantity of bees and wasps in the forest.

Eventually, the woman came to a stop, slowly turning around. "We're here."

It was a small wooden cabin, about the size of a fairly large room, and only one story. It didn't look very safe, as the wood had rotted and was soggy looking. Upon entering, a lot of the old, also wooden furniture was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. While there was no power, a fireplace was on one of the walls, so it would do.

Nearly collapsing in a chair, the samurai groaned. "Make yourselves comfortable. It will be a long night."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked, brushing some dust off a pretty ugly crimson couch and sitting down.

"I mean," his mother removed her helmet, placing it down on the table. "Now that two of those demons are incapacitated, the other three won't stop at anything to eliminate you. Then you may have to face Satan."

"We can handle them." Cole smirked, punching his fist. Amara shook her head.

"It's not that. Satan can't be defeated by a human."

"Maybe my golden powers will work?" Her son asked optimistically. The woman smiled slightly.

"Maybe."

"That reminds me," Zane muttered, continuously staring out the dirty window. The place needed cleaning. "We were ambushed by one in the forest two weeks ago. He said our kind had killed 'Insanity'. Who is that?"

"There were originally six Evil Ones. But Insanity- Torture's twin sister- was killed. No..that's not the right term for it. More like her physical body was destroyed." The blond woman answered, without skipping a beat.

Then she said just as quietly. "We used to be friends."

Chuckling at the ninjas expressions of horror and surprise, she smiled. "Before she was evil."

"What was she like?"

"Very stubborn, I'll tell you that."

"Are you sure this will work?"

The green haired young man looked down at the younger girl, who glared up at him, before continuing to try and unlock the door to the store.

It was one of those little general stores, the ones that had vital things like medicine and food and cheap t-shirts. According to the sign, which had been cast away, it's fate to lay on the ground until it's owner found it, the store had closed at 10:00 pm, three hours ago.

The faint sound of sirens was growing louder, and Mali panicked slightly, sticking one of her claws in the lock and trying to get into the store.

Half an hour ago, they'd left that place they been in- the Lunar Tavern- and were almost three blocks away, now trying to rob a convenience store. He'd done it before, but gotten caught. It was how they'd met. Now the demon girl was on her knees, growling in frustration as the half serpentine stood up, leaning against the glass window, shivering from the sheer cold weather. It was what? December 10? Yeah.

"Screw this," Mali finally hissed, grabbing her tail. It was string like, with a black spade shape at the tip. She then tried using that to unlock the door. "Nothing's working."

"Move." The teenage male commanded, shoving her aside as he kneeled down, unlocking the door with safety pin he'd had in his pocket.

"Bastard." His albino companion growled again, allowing him to slowly push the door open. Whoever opened the door was sort of an idiot. They didn't have an alarm, or video cameras. Just endless rows of supplies.

"Take what you need," AJ shoved his friend in the shoulder. They were both still slightly mad at each other, and nothing was helping. "And only what you need."

"Yeah yeah." The demon rolled her eye, quickly walking down the hall and grabbing a new cane and some medical supplies, like bandages and cough drops. She then grabbed an inhaler. She needed it.

"Hey, Sammy," AJ said, mocking her other nickname. She looked at him, her bright red eyes narrowed. "Catch," He then threw a backpack at her. "Put the shit in this."

"Of course," Mali said sarcastically. "Climb in."

Ignoring her comment, the hybrid continued getting canned goods. Hey, they may be cold, but they tasted pretty good. "Get our medicine." He called over his shoulder. Nodding, the girl swung herself over the medical counter, walking down the aisle. After about fifteen minutes, she shortly returned with many small, paper pharmacy bags. Tossing about three of the six bags at him, she shoved the rest in her new bag, before tossing some food and water in it, as well as a tourist t-shirt. She then zipped it shut, slinging it over her shoulder as she limped over, her new metal cane in her hand as she swung it around in one large circle.

"You ready?" He asked, not noticing her scared expression as blue and red lights flooded the room- then he was scared.

"Put your hands in the air!" A deep, raspy voice commanded, and there was a click as guns were pointed at the two.

So, the shop owner wasn't stupid, and had a silent alarm.

"Run idiot!" Mali hissed, dragging her friend by his arm, and then did something she'd hidden from the ninja.

Mali wasn't exactly the slowest person, and could run fast. Like faster than you could blink. She didn't do it often, as it wasted her energy, but this was an emergency. In a flash, the two were in the middle of a parking lot, luckily only few cars around.

"What now?" The sick little demon questioned, trying to forget what she'd done merely an hour ago, instead staring at her crimson stained claws.

Probably why the police were there.

"I don't know," AJ winced, a flame like pain shooting up in his chest.

"Survive?"


	43. Chapter 43

Please comment your thoughts. Please

"Please! Help me!"

His lips curled up in a smile, as he raised his gray hand, instead if slapping her, he gently placed his plan on her blood stained forehead. Almost instantly, she let out a scream, sickening and beautiful.

"Get them off me! Get them off me!" She then did something horrible.

Fingernails dug into her tanned, fair skin, she ripped away at it easily, like wet day, clumps of flesh and muscle buried into her fingernails. The woman was now nothing more than a model one might see in a science classroom. But she wasn't done.

"There are still more spiders." The young boy said softly, stepping into the light of the window.

His eyes were crimson brown, half covered by his messy black hair. His skin was a pale gray, and in his hand was a small spider, black with a red crest on its abdomen.

"There is one...here." He placed the small black widow on her chest, the spider sinking into her skin. Not biting into it, but simply phasing through, like she were water.

"No! No! NO!" The shredded up woman was howling in pain and fear now. "Roger! Help me!"

It was then the small boy glanced over at the deceased man in the corner. He was scared of being murdered...it had been easy enough. So why had his brethren failed so easily?

"R..roger..." The woman gave one last sigh, before consuming too much blood and dying.

"Honestly, it's pathetic I must do this to survive." The raven haired boy groaned, sliding out the window to the ground eighty feet below, smiling as he saw what could possibly be his next victims.

"This just in- nineteen year old Lauren Brown has been found murdered in the restroom of the local Lunar Tavern. No evidence has been collected as far, but it appears Ms. Brown suffered stab or puncture wounds before death, of which drained all the blood from her body. For more information, please stay tuned for the news at ten o'clock. My name is-"

Kai flicked the TV off, rolling his eyes in disgust. The third murder this week, and possibly one of the hundreds suffered at the hands of these...these demons. Honestly, he was glad Mali and AJ were gone. Those two were no help, even if AJ had defeated Blasphemy, and they couldn't be trusted, in his opinion. She was his former enemy's daughter, and he another enemy's son.

While Lloyd's family was concerned for the demons well being, they really couldn't do anything but wait. Luckily, Lloyd had finally excepted his mother, and the two had found they had quite a lot in common.

Kai turned to Kade, who was sleeping against the couch, his purple eyes shut, arms crossed over his chest as he snored softly, Akira leaning on his arm, also unconscious.

"Look at this."

Amara adjusted the newspaper in front of her, the paper crinkling as she spread it out. "It says an old couple was murdered last night too. The woman was shredded up, literally. Like she'd had a fight with a lawn mower. Her husband was just...stabbed."

"That's the third death this week. Is this a joke to somebody?" Jay leaned against the wall, twisting the half drank water bottle in his hands.

"Most likely not," Nya frowned at the blue ninja, before sitting down and tracing her fingers across a kitchen knife. "It doesn't sound...natural."

"Nya's right," Lloyd yawned, looking quickly at the window. The sky was already dark, and a storm was coming, red and white lightning filling the sky with an eerie pink color. "People being shredded up and having the blood sucked from them just doesn't seem human."

It was then everyone decided to go to bed for the night.

Akira couldn't sleep. For the past few nights, he'd been having some strange dreams. The kind that made you wake up in cold sweat in the middle of the night. But the dreams were pretty scary.

He was in the middle of a vast, white empty space, wearing his pajamas, the ones he liked, with the stripes. A few yards away stood a woman with long curly black hair, covering her eyes. There was a small smile on her face, and her sky blue dress blew softly on the wind. She had a hand outstretched, and kept repeating words he couldn't hear.

Then he could feel himself slowly stepping forward. His arm slowly reaching out. Then the woman looked up, her face horrifying.

Her face looked like bits and pieces of his friends own faces, crudely cut off and sewn up. She had his blue eyes, a sickening, bloody smile on her face, literally spreading from ear to ear as the crimson liquid dripped from her eye sockets and cheeks, staining the lime green scales coating her assorted colored skin. In the dream, he would blink, and the woman had claws.

"Who are you?" His own voice would shout, stepping back. In a flash, the woman was in front of him, her own mutilated face inches from his own.

"Let me show you." She would joss, her voice above a whisper, but barely. She'd then touch his forehead.

Akira would then see horrid, bloody images. His friends hurt, some creature that looked like his friend smiling at him above a bloodied, unrecognizable corpse, falling...then death.

"Make it stop!" He would yell, and the woman would laugh.

"Only you can, my little Kiwi." And he'd wake up silently.

"It's just a dream..." He cry quietly, so not to wake his brother and friends, hugging his knees as he rocked back and forth. "Just a dream."

He wasn't like other kids. He couldn't go to his parents for comfort. They weren't there. They were dead.

"Akira." A voice muttered...it sounded like...AJ?

"AJ?" The small boy whispered, sliding from the small cot in the tiny bedroom, slowly walking to the door. "Is that you?"

"Over here." He turned around, to find the window open.

Knowing full well Kade wouldn't approve, the young child nonetheless slid out the window, shivering as he was blasted with cold, artic like wind. Clutching his arms, the boy followed the inviting voice.

He came to a clearing, only to find nobody there but another strange boy.

He had soft, brown eyes and long black hair, and was Akira's age, a warm smile on his face.

"H-have you seen m-my friend?" Akira shivered. "H-he has g-green hair and s-scales."

"Oh!" The boy said merrily, unfazed by the weather. "I have! Follow me!"

"O-okay." Akira stepped forward, following the boy.

When Akira saw his friends in a bloody pile on the floor, he knew it was a track, before his consciousness died out. 


	44. Chapter 44

Sorry it's short.

The small boy walked slowly through the forest, leaving in his trail bloody footsteps. Leaves and dirt stuck to his bloodied now crimson shoes, and a small smiled was planted on his face. Occasionally, he would reach out, tapping his fingers against a tree, before the plant would wither and die instantly, leaving behind a smouldering grey pile of bark. Eyes narrowed, he stopped at his destination, chuckling at the sight of it. It was the perfect setting for a horror movie, just what he liked.

Surely this group couldn't be THAT stupid. They must have noticed they were missing by now. He felt prideful. Normally he had to let his sister do the dirty work. But she was busy at the moment. So here he was, his sunken in eyes staring up at the door. Then he screamed, before quickly running away from where he'd been standing, a smile crossing his face as the door opened quickly.

The small boy rushed back to his hideout, kicking aside one of the bloody body's on the ground, the person crying out slightly. Then his eyes drifted to the one standing up, and he chuckled at the obvious fear on her face.

"You tried to escape." He uttered coldly, taking notice of her black, angel like wings. It was then their eyes met, and she fell to her knees.

"I don't like when people escape."

"Kade, you haven't gotten any rest all day. It's possible you just imagined hearing Akira scream."

Shaking his head, the demon hybrid kept walking forward. "No. I heard him. He's here."

"Or not," Kai muttered quietly under his breath. "For all we know, he's finally lost it-" he yelped when Nya elbowed him in the ribcage, a sign he should be quiet.

"I haven't lost anything," Kade hissed, looking over his shoulder, before speaking to himself. "I've just lost everything."

The sound of footsteps filled the small forest, startling everyone. They all turned to the source. Walking towards them was boy, quite small, about four foot ten. He had jet black hair stuck together in crimson clumps, dried blood dangling from thin strands of raven coloured locks. His face, curled up on a sneer, was a light, ashy gray. His long, crimson shirt was ripped up, stained with brown and bright red splotches, like his jeans. His eyes, also a crimson brown, kept changing. From spiders, to ghosts, to what looked like a bloodied corpse, in his hand, he was dragging a boy about his size, whom was covered in deep cuts, bone visible in some of them, his clothes stained with blood. It was hard to tell if he was alive, but his chest was rising and falling...barely.

"Is this yours?" The gray skinned boy giggled, his voice soft and airy, yet edged with a dark, demonic tone. He held up the other boy...Akira.

"You put him down!" Jay commanded, his eyes wide, voice, shaky. Kade simply stood in shock, purple eyes wide with horror at the state of his family.

Cocking his head to one side, the boy giggled again. "I see the fear in your eyes," he spoke slowly, in a song like trance. "It's pretty." He reached out, pressing his fingers to the lightning ninjas forehead, the latter feeling he couldn't move from his spot.

What he saw was so horrifying, he didn't even notice the slow trail of sticky crimson sliding to his chin, and only felt it when he passed out, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Jay!" Nya cried out, rushing to the blue ninja. His skin was deathly pale, and he was convulsing.

"Huh," the raven haired boy frowned. "He's having a really bad nightmare. Wonder what it's about?" Slowly, he snapped his fingers. Two shadow like columns appeared next to him, taking the shape of humans. The two twins from earlier, the ones with the gray hair and golden eyes. Both wore thick, heavy black cloaks, iron daggers in their hands. Only now, one had snow white goat like horns, his twins, a jet black.

"We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Fear, and these are my nephews Gabriel and Michael. Sadly, Lucifer couldn't make it at the moment."

The lighter gray haired one- Gabriel growled slightly. Michael looking quiet at a spot above their heads.

"So here's the deal," Fear continued. "I've extracted all the fear I need from the kid. So take him, get him medical help, I don't care. But you meet me back here at midnight. No later, no earlier."

"And if we do not?" Wu asked quietly, glaring at the boy- who was probably older than himself. Fear nodded at the twins, who held up two bloody people- Mali and AJ. The group gasped.

"If you don't come?" The boy giggled one last time, slowly disappearing into the darkness of the trees. The twins were gone in the blink of an eye, taking the two with them.

"They die."


	45. Chapter 45

Ten minutes to midnight, and nobody was prepared.  
>It <em>had <em>been a rough day and all, with `Fear` as he called himself, finally showing his face. Not only that, but he`d captured two of their comrades. It was dangerous to wish for luck, as they were still quite young and could give any information that could lead to the ninja`s demise.  
>Remarkably, Akira would be fine, as most of his incisions had been a bit shallow, the worst, which had been down to bone, only on his arm and foot. He was currently resting in the place he would have been, had he not ran off that previous day. The small boy had not woken up at all. Zane had offered to stay behind with the boy, also quite weak from being injured in the battle against Disease.<br>Nine minutes.  
>Kade had luckily created another vortex the place the ninja had resided in before this whole war even began, and they`d grabbed everything, from weapons to Nya`s Samurai X suit. The hybrid was surprisingly calm, even if his brother was in a comatose state. Speaking of comatose, Jay had not woken up as well, that same trickle of blood running down his face. The ninja had considered quickly rushing the two to Jay`s family's home, then reconsidered the fact. Ed and Edna did not know about the Evil Ones rebirth, and might make a big deal of Jay being injured, or insist on coming.<br>Eight minutes  
>The sky was dark, and ironically, a horrid thunderstorm was spreading across the sky, quilt like patterns of red and pale gray filling the dark horizon. Yet, they still had to go- he`d threatened the death of their friends and family. The ninja had the theory he wasn`t quite kidding either. In the state of the demon and snake, they could already be dying.<br>Everyone was quiet as they walked down the path, still at most a third of a mile away, the lightning seeming to gather around the small clearing in which they had first met Fear.  
>A heavy, brisk breeze flowed through the air, already piled on top of the icy artic winds of December, soon, snow would fall, making this already harder than it would be.<br>Seven minutes.  
>Fear was already there, a bored expression on his face as he faced AJ, who was awake. The teenage half serpentine was coated in his own, and possibly Mali`s, blood. Huge, deep gashes covered his arms and chest, cutting through his once clean shirt. In his blood stained hands, was a pocket knife. He must have been very foolish, or very brave, to even attempt to attack this…monster, who`d harmed him and his friend.<br>Speaking of his friend, she was no better. She must have done something to receive her condition, for as well as cuts, she had multiple stab wounds too. Probably why she was not awake, and lay unconscious against an already bloodied tree. When Kai had glanced at Lloyd and his family, they had shocked, horrified expressions.  
><em>'Funny,' <em>the fire ninja thought bitterly. _'Why would anyone in this family care? Didn't they all practically abandon each other?' _  
>Six minutes.<br>"I know you're there," Fear suddenly called out, a slight drawl in his voice. "You can come out."  
>Wearily, the ninja stepped from the shadows of the trees and bushes. "But, you threatened to kill our friends!" Cole said harshly, gripping his scythe. "Why tell us to-"<br>"Maybe I`m in a friendly mood," the small boy chuckled. "Or maybe, and _just maybe_ this brat here-"Fear kicked Mali in the face, sending a trail of blood from the spot where he`d kicked her carved open face. "Is just dead. I aint sure, and sure as hell don't care."  
>AJ stared frightened up at the sky, tears staining his bloody orange eyes.<br>"And since you all were early, here is what we will do," The Evil One said calmly. "We are going to play hide and seek, and I will give you a five minute start."  
>"And if we refuse?" Kai hissed, gripping his sword so tightly, his knuckles were white.<br>"_Then we all fall down." _Fear giggled, his voice barely above a whisper. It had changed, and was now more demonic and low.  
>"<em>Go. Hide. I`ll wait for you."<em>  
>Five minutes<br>AJ stood up to follow the ninja, his knees buckling. Fear barely glanced at him.  
><em>"You`re staying here."<em>  
>He then focused on the ninja.<br>_"Go. Before I change my mind. And I__** will**__."_  
>Quickly, they dashed further into the forest, careful to be quiet.<br>"Why did we leave?" Lloyd asked angrily. "He might just kill them!"  
>"Even so, this gives everyone a better survival chance." Amara said softly, grabbing his wrist. They were both standing on a branch, having used the trees to escape.<br>"Do you even care?" Lloyd then muttered, wincing as bark dug into his gi. His mother remained silent, and just wiped something from one of her swords.  
>"I`m not sure."<br>Four minutes  
>The sky was now completely dark, as well as the forest. The little sliver of moon left was gone, replaced by the occasional flash of lightning, illuminating the sky a crimson red. It caught everyone`s attention, but nobody said anything, just stared.<br>They`d split up, in the hopes it would be harder for Fear to find them.  
>Three minutes.<br>The only noise anyone could hear was their own heart racing. Hide and Seek was always one of the scarier games. It didn't help if the seeker had the intent of the player's death. They'd seen what he`d done to Jay, and definitely didn't want it to happen to them. Even if they`d spent all day preparing, nobody was prepared.  
>Two minutes<br>An icy chill was sent down their spines, and added to the sweat running down their faces, it felt cold. Very cold. The thunder had stopped, casting an eerie pale glow over everything. It was 11:58, almost time.  
>There was a sickening noise, like shredding skin, and if one had the courage to listen, they`d hear screams and bones breaking.<br>_"Two minutes," _Fear called out softly, a black substance dripping from his fist. _"Is everyone prepared?"_  
>'<em>No,'<em> Lloyd wanted to shout, but his voice caught in his throat. Nobody had responded.  
><em>"Good," <em>The little evil one snickered. _"Maybe you aren't so bad at this game. It`ll be fun."_  
>One minute.<br>Everything felt surreal, like it couldn't be happening. They had never faced an enemy this bad- with the exception of the Great Devourer or the Overlord. Even Samukai would be relief compared to this.  
>"Hey," Lloyd whispered. "Who do these guys work for?"<br>Amara barely moved, her swords sheathed at her belt. "Overlord." She responded quietly, putting a finger to the mouth of her helmet.  
>His eyes widened, at the exact same time there was the sound of branches snapping.<br>Time was up.


	46. Chapter 46

It seemed like it was straight from a dumb horror movie. The group splits up in the woods, or some equally as creepy place, some scary monster that looked like it crawled straight from Hell would strategically be placed there, and slowly hunt down the small group of campers or stranded tourists, and in the end, one person would usually be alive, with some plot twist ending. Cole just had to laugh silently at the irony in that resemblance, no matter how different they were. A group of _ninja _temporarily staying in a forest, were now playing a game of hide and seek with a psychotic seven year old demon, who was most likely over fifty years old. And oh- he hadn`t killed anyone yet. Just sent one of their friends into a comatose state. Meanwhile, said demon child had hostages, and could speak complete sentences. Horror movie monsters couldn`t do that. It seemed all they had was a switch with two modes; _kill and sleep for a long time. _

Now this was not how Cole had intended to spend his night. He`d hoped to at least get some sleep. But no, he was stuck up in a tree with Garmadon, who was silently panicking over the fact he had no idea where his family was. Well, not exactly true. One was half dead, the other two had run off deep into the woods.

"Hey, Garmadon," The earth ninja spoke quietly, the older man turning at the sound of his voice. "You`ve fought these…_things_ before right?"  
>"Eh, yes?" The man responded, equally as quiet, brushing some of his gray hair from his face.<p>

"_Then why aren`t we fighting them?" _Cole snapped, facing him. _"It`s just like with Disease. We`re waiting for him to kill us." _

He was, while quite glad luck had provided him fortunately, angry he could not fight. The old man didn't answer, just sighed, before blinking his green eyes. Then suddenly he spoke in a hushed, low tone, startling the black haired ninja.

"Because…this Evil One is very different from the rest. Unlike Blasphemy, who controls Hellfire, or Disease, who can literally make you sick with anything, Fear can manipulate your nightmares into reality, and they can _literally _hurt you. Unlike most demons, which can just tell what you`re scared of, he literally makes them come to life. If he finds you, he`ll use that against you."

_"That`s right."_

The two instantly glanced down, noticing Fear staring up at them, his eyes glazed over and a half smile on his face. Sprouted from his back were spiked, black tendrils, stabbed about an inch into the ground.

_"I could hear you talking, you know. You`re very loud."_

"Why are you doing this?!" Cole called down quietly, gripping his scythe. "What did anybody ever do to you?"

_"They did lots of things." _Fear whispered slowly. _"They killed my sister. They killed my human family. They made it so I couldn`t hurt people when they sleep. I don`t like humans very much."_

He held up Mali, who he`d been dragging around by her hood the entire time, AJ in his other hand. Garmadon stiffened up next to him, growling slightly.

_"I don`t see why this one insists on helping you," _Fear smiled fully, a slight metallic noise in his voice. _"She`s not human. She`s one of __**us.**__ But weaker."_

"Hey Fear," a familiar voice said behind him, and a figure stepped into the bare moonlight. "Just kill `em already. Quite wasting time."  
><em>"Now is not the time Blasphemy!" <em>Fear hissed, facing the blond haired Evil One. _"I am quite busy. Just take this and mutilate a little, but leave me alone!" _He threw AJ towards the demon, who smiled down at the snake boy.

"I remember this one, he tried to kill me. Did a bad job of it too."

_"He did kill you," _the smaller reminded him. _"I brought you back, you are his fear. For some reason, he knew your weak spot is your heart. Like they knew Disease would burn up in heat. They are not very stupid. Smarter than most flesh sacks."_

"Aw, you`re grumpy," Blasphemy smirked. "Is it past your bedtime, little brother?"

_"Shut up you fool!" _Fear screamed, eyes flashing. He dropped the small demon in his hands, sending her three feet to the ground with a sickening crack, a small pool of blood forming under her... _"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"_

Garmadon let out a sort of deranged yell, leaping down from the tree and tackling the boy. But he didn't get the reaction he expected.

As soon as Fear glanced at him, he merely stuck his hand out, completely covering the man's face, a small trail of darkness in wisps floating from his hand.

_"You don't scare me," _Fear giggled softly, his eyes meeting Garmadon's. _"Only I can do that."_

There was a scream.

"He got your father," Amara said hurriedly, her eyes flickering nervously as she recognized the scream. "He`s not going to stop until he finds us all now."

"He got dad?!" Lloyd cried out, not caring if anyone heard him. "We have to go help him!"

"Don't you get it Lloyd?" His mother responded softly. "If he gets you, there`s the chance you won`t wake up."

The young man ignored her, jumping off the tree and running towards the source of the scream.

"Lloyd!" Amara yelled, chasing after him. "Get back here!"


	47. Chapter 47

Blasphemy couldn't help himself from laughing. He'd finally avenge Satan, and prove he wasn't a worthless fool after all. The demon would kill these two 'freaks' and not only make his brother proud, but his father too.

Fear had given him total permission to destroy the small demon and half serpentine, and he'd take advantaged of that. The latter bastard had almost killed him after all...well...entirely killed him. His heart was his weak spot, and the stupid bastard had known that. Now he could get revenge. The very thought made his giddy. As for the demon...what the hell, it'd make his father happy to see her dead.

Not wanting to waste time as he had previously, the demon of betrayal and sacrilege tossed the two teenagers to the floor of the cold, muddy ground. Slowly pulling his dagger from his belt, he thrusted it into the flesh of the half serpentines thigh, making sure to hit every artery he possibly could. With luck, the boy would be dead in under an hour. The demon wouldn't even be a possible threat...she was practically dead. He'd almost started choking, he'd been laughing so hard when Fear dropped her. He'd cracked open her skull. That would kill her.

Blasphemy did have to admit, he was a little worried about his baby brother. The sun would be up in about five hours, and did he not catch the ninja by then, he'd be weaker. People just didn't get scared as much during the they needed this to work. They'd lost Disease already, and that just left them, their sister, and Torture.

Speaking of the demon of torture, he seemed to be strangely excited. Not because he was awake, but whenever the dirty blond haired demon was near him, the raven haired one would continuously mutter, "just three more years..." Repeatedly. To be honest, it freaked him out.

A gasp barely even startled him, and he slowly turned to see AJ clutching his furiously bleeding leg, a look of fear and shock on his face, his eyes barely open and blinking constantly.

"Oh," Blasphemy said quietly, a smirk on his gray face. "You've woken up. I thought you'd died. Guess we can have a bit more fun then?" He would not be more lenient this time, wouldn't be so fair.

"No..." AJ croaked, tears spilling down his face. He slwoly reached out, grabbing his unconscious friends hand. "No no no..."

"Oh, but yes," Blasphemy smiled, amusement visible in his blue eyes. "This is really quite a fun month for you, isn't it boy? You got to play tag with Disease, hide and seek with Fear, and now..." He laughed maniacally, his teeth suddenly shark like and blood stained. "You get to play Door with me."

"D-door?" A look of confusion crossed the snakes face. "What the hell is that?"

"Just something I made up. You pick left, or right, and get different options, it's really quite fun."

The damned idiot still looked confused, and Blasphemy sighed.

"Let's say you pick left. Your friend here dies, and you live," he was lying of course. "Her family hates you, and you betray your new 'friends'. If you pick right, you die, and your friend here will probably hate you forever, does she live. She doesn't look to good right now..." He drawled off, spinning in a circle slightly. "I'd pick quickly."

"Right." AJ said hastily, not even thinking it through.

"Ah, okay...but there's a catch," blasphemy leaned forward, yanking AJ upwards by his shirt. The green haired teenager struggled to breath from lack of oxygen reaching his lungs, as Blasphemy had him pressed against a tree now.

"I never said those were the options."

"I have quite a few options myself."

A sudden purple force struck Blasphemy from the side, sending the demon to the ground. He looked up, and narrowed his eyes.

Standing at the feet if the unconscious demon was Kade, his eyes completely engulfed in purple flame, flickering purple wings of dark fire floating inches from his back. His face was curled upwards in a smirk.

"One, you let my friends go and burn in hell." He swung his sword, cutting into the fallen monsters cheek. Blasphemy hissed. The metal was infused with iron...it burnt his skin, turning it red.

"Or, you go forward with this stupidity, and I kill you."

Blasphemy lunged at Kade, a feral cry escaping his throat. But e half demon just smiled.

"That's what I thought."


	48. Chapter 48

_"This is not fun," _

Fear kicked at the limp, unconscious body of a ninja, before brushing his crimson stained hands on the cotton shirt he currently wore. So far, he`d found the black ninja and that old man. They hadn`t even put up a fight. But Fear thought they were being plain rude. Games should be fun, and they didn't play well enough, so they lost.

_"Now that I think about it, the gold one should have arrived here by now." _He knew from his little spy that the golden ninja valued friendship and family more than anything, and wouldn't sit and watch his friends slowly get killed off. True to his word, he heard the stupid boy crying for his father, and another female voice, presumably his mother, screaming at him to stop.

_"Forget everything I just said,"_ Fear grinned, in turn looking down at the bloodied old man lying at his feet, slightly convulsing with every breath. His skin was a deathly pale, his clothes stained with sweat and blood. Slowly kneeling down, the small raven haired child giggled as Garmadon suffered his own fears, but they`d been the pretty typical fears. The ones where your family is murdered in front of you._ "Don`t worry old man. Your precious son will be here soon. I think your wife too. The other…the girl… is probably dead, if Blasphemy actually follows orders for once."_

The gray haired man just shook, like he was having a seizure. Then Fear felt something cold pressed against his back, just at the base of his neck. A bored expression painted his face as he slowly turned, facing none other than Lloyd- the latter holding in his shaking hands a katana, his fearful expression reflected back up at him through the metal. He saw his father, and with a heavy thud, the long thin sheet of metal clattered to the ground, as Lloyd sunk to his knees.

"Father…" Lloyd whispered, unable to resist the stream of tears burning into his green eyes, turning the white of his eyes a soft pink. "You…you **BASTARD**!"

Fear merely chuckled, and reached down to pick up the katana. As soon as his fingers came into touch with the metal however, a sharp pain shot up his hand, and the demon winced. Lloyd took notice, and remembered something his sister had mentioned four days ago.

**"How do we defeat these?" Lloyd snapped, knocking the burnt demon off his feet.**

**"You wouldn't happen to have any iron on you?" His sister responded, shoving away one of the three demons.**

As Fear was gripping his hand, which was a salmon color in the area he`d been burnt by the gray metal, the blond ninja slowly reached out, and was just about to grasp his katana.

_"NO!"_ Fear screamed, throwing Lloyd against a tree with one of his tendrils. For a moment, all the golden ninja could see through his hazy vision was a cold crimson spilling softly over his face, then nothing.

Fear stared in surprise at the unconscious ninja, and a gleeful expression crossed his face._ "That was…relatively easy…" _

Giggling once more, the gray skinned demon left the injured ninja alone, to bleed to death, after all, head injuries were the worst. Oh, how he would have just loved to see Garmadon`s face when he saw his two children were dead. But the brat's mother would find them first. Fear would haunt them for the rest of their days.

All he could see was darkness. All he could hear were the faint words of someone softly speaking his name. But he could fully feel someone shaking him, trying to wake him up.

Akira had once heard about comas from Kade. His big brother had said people couldn`t wake up from comas, but most of the time could understand what was going on. Was that was happening to him? He was in a coma?

He actually enjoyed the darkness, as for quite a while, since he`d blacked out, the little half breed had been suffering nightmares worse than he had for a while.

The horrible, rag doll like woman was there, and she kept laughing while he saw his friends being murdered. Then someone would raise a bloodied weapon up to kill him, and Kade would be in front of him, and he`d see Kade die. He couldn`t control the dreams, couldn`t turn away, just watch with a horrified expression.

Then there was a girl with pale skin, her bushy black hair framing her slender face. She wore a purple cardigan over a white button down shirt, her jean skirt stained with blood. Akira couldn`t see her face, but in her hands was the same scythe Mali had used to protect him a week ago. Dripping from it was a black liquid, no different from blood, yet entirely different all the same.

_"I`ll be seeing you soon." _She kept saying, but the words were already imprinted in his mind like a cut from a sharp knife, painful and long lasting.

Then the cycle would repeat.

Over and over.

Until he went crazy.

What didn't help add to the current situation was the fact that just three minutes ago, a heavy snowfall had already coated the woods and the surrounding area in a cold blanket, about an inch thick, in snow. Already, he could see crimson blood blossoming onto the white powder, the splotches shaping themselves into tiny bloody roses. His heart was racing as he clutched a gloved hand to his cut finger. Ironically, Kai had snagged his thumb on a rose bush in the midst of running, the sky much too dark to see the spiked thorns in the jet black woods. Now here the fire ninja lay, concealed by a mass of leaves, fresh and warm colors from fall, the snow giving them a decoration like appearance. What was more on his mind than bloodied limbs, was the fact that Nya and himself had gotten separated when trying hide.

Yes…he knew quite well that this happened often. Whenever they fought one of these….these monsters in human clothing, they`d get separated, and end up with one of them hurt. First it had been that snake, then his little demon friend and Zane, whom Jay had patched up with little difficulty. Now it was the first two, his sisters 'boyfriend' and Akira, who shouldn't have even been there. Kai felt he needed to talk to Sensei, to see if the older man could get these children to a safe spot or someplace. He didn't care they had powers that could help. For all the fire ninja knew, they were trying to kill them too. But…he sort of wished they hadn't let those robot people go so easily…they might have been some help.

_"But we`ve gotten ourselves into situations like this before."_ He murmured quietly.

A sudden noise, and his hand immediately lashed out to grasp the katana beside him. There was someone behind him, and Kai stood up quickly, brandishing his sword, startling the other person.

_"You shouldn't be here!"_


	49. Chapter 49

_"I`m impressed Fear."_

Said demon smiled faintly, before exchanging glances with Satan, the devil`s reflection illuminated by the multicolored flames licking at his face in the blade of the knife.

_"Not only have you possibly killed one of the ninja, but you incapacitated the gold ninja and his sister as well."_

Brushing strands of raven colored hair from his gray face, the younger demon chuckled. _"Honestly, I don`t see how Blasphemy and Disease failed. Oh wait…they`re weak." _

_"Speaking of which," _Satan spoke softly, yet his raspy voice reverberated with power. _"I need you to allow them to wake up. Of course, let them still be injured and weak, but we finally have what we need."_

_"You mean…?"_

_"Don't zone off, it makes you look foolish. And yes, we have the power needed to release me from this Hell…quite literally. Leave them be…and you can finally enjoy your hide and seek."_

_"They`re completely ruining it," _Fear hissed, and a bemused expression crossed Satan`s face. _"Honestly, I`ve given them reason to hide, but they just keep coming."_

_"Idiots. This is why humans are the inferior species," _The blood red haired demon agreed. _"Now get to work. You need blood for this. Might I recommend the little demon brat? Spare you the energy."_

_"True." _Fear quietly walked through the now undead like forest, wasting little time in stepping on the bodies of the unconscious ninja and samurai. The only people still awake were that filthy half breed, the snake boy, and Blasphemy.

Amongst one of the little clearings of the forest, Kade and the blond demon were dueling, katana crossing with dagger.

_"I need the girl." _Fear murmured quickly, striding across the barren field to pick up the limp demon, when something cold and wet grasped his ankle. AJ glared weakly up at him, a fiery, determined look in his eyes.

"Put my friend down…you…spider…bastard." Blood dripped down his chin, creating a crimson puddle a mere three inches from his face.  
><em>"That's the best you can come up with?" <em>The small demon scoffed, planting his foot on AJ`s face, twisting his neck as he walked past him. A katana narrowly missed his ear, and Kade glared at Fear, his eyes wide with exhaustion. During this moment of distraction, Blasphemy tackled the half demon, slamming his head against the ground. Both teenagers were either dead or knocked out.

Dragging Mali to a free clearing, Fear sat down on the ground next to her, taking notice of the huge, already reopened wound on her stomach- from when she`d been impaled. Smirking slightly, he plunged his hand into the gash, coating it in her blood. Her eyes, slightly open, held a glossy, glazed over look. He was sure by now she was dead- no wait…she had a pulse. Stupid girl.

Her blood stained his hand, dripping as he walked slowly in a circle, then a pentagram. Taking more blood, he drew symbols with his finger, before finally connecting everything.

_"Yes…"_ He whispered, a huge smile now on his face. Barely glancing at the demon, he chuckled.

_"You`ve contributed so much to your species, blood traitor."_

A dim, cherry red glow had surrounded the pentagram, and he snapped his fingers, allowing the ninja to awaken.

He was certain- and quite true to his word- the ninja came rushing to the source minutes later.

_"Now this is what I call fun." _He giggled, picking up Mali in one hand and facing Garmadon.

_"This thing is yours right? You can have it back."_

And he threw the albino back to her father, who barely caught her.

_"What the hell is wrong with you?!" _Said man screamed, his voice hoarse from being unconscious.

_"Hell?" _Fear sighed. _"You`ll see."_

And then something horrible yet amazing happened.

It was already foggy, being early morning. But now the fog was a dark, smoggy gray. And someone stood up in it.

Nearly eight feet tall, the devil smirked down at the ninja.

_"Well, if it isn`t lovely to finally meet you all."_


	50. Chapter 50

Satan found himself chuckling, eyes narrowed in amusement at the groups expressions.

"You look like you don't even know who I am."

"Satan." Kade said quietly, clutching a bloody gash on his arm.

"That's right," the devil smirked, walking closer. "I'm the devil. Antichrist, Prince of Darkness, Fallen Angel, Lucifer...whatever you wish."

"How are you here?" Lloyd was shocked to find his own voice shaking, unlike when he'd fought the overlord- when he'd been so confident.

"Oh..thank your sister, but that's not important...what's important is that I am here." He chuckled again, plucking the child turned teenager off the ground like he weighed nothing.

"So...you're the puny brat who defeated my father...interesting..."

He then tossed him back to earth. The ninja normally would have screamed his name, but they found themselves too paralyzed to even move.

"Well...as much as I'd like to kill you...and would probably have a better shot at it...I'm not going to...yet."

"Hah, you think you could kill us?" Kai found his own voice, and satan glanced at him. Suddenly, a sharp, knife like pain dug into the fire ninjas leg, and he fell, staring at the bone jutting from his skin.

"Yes.." Satan answered. "I really do."

"But, Fear has done better than most of my siblings...he almost killed these two." He nodded towards AJ and Mali.

"No!" Lloyd shouted, standing up.

"Why will you not fight?" Wu asked, shakily gripping his staff.

"Because it is not the winter solstice." Satan answered calmly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Cole asked, stepping back as the devil looked at him.

"Everything, you pathetic piece of shit. On the winter solstice, my powers turn in full, and the prophecy will be completed."

"Prophecy?" Amara asked. "There wasn't a-"

"Oh, but there was..." Blasphemy smirked. "On the winter solstice, one of you is supposed to fight Satan...the outcome in unknown...but likely my master will win."

"You honestly can't defeat us," a new voice- Disease- spoke quietly. "We're years older than you...harder to defeat...you had luck."

"And soon you'll die." Their voices blurred together, and the world went black.

"Lloyd...wake up...come on.."

His pale green eyes blinked slowly, taking in his surroundings, then the painful, dull feeling in his head and arm...it felt broken.

"Dude, we gotta get to a hospital...your sister and Kai are losing blood...fast."

That was all it took for him to wake up, and he rose, his movements like that of the undead. "Are they awake?"

"Kai is...I know we aren't supposed to move bleeding people, but we gotta hurry...it's a close call."

His gaze drifted to his sister, who was limp in Kades arms. With the exception of the horrid, already turning green gash on her forehead, the reopened wound on her stomach and a couple of deep cuts, there seemed to be nothing else. Kai was shaken up, obviously, and his hands were blood stained, from trying to push the bone into place...but it only caused more pain.

"We have to hurry," Kade said slowly, a deep cut on his own cheek. He'd removed his trench coat, draping it over his shoulders. "Someone must stay with Akira. We don't have the time to go get them and then go. Amara-"

"That's my daughter, I'm going with you."

He chuckled. "I figured as much."

"I'll stay," Wu rose from the ground, using his bō staff as support. "Does the cabin have any sort of communication?"

Amara shut her eyes for a quick moment. "Yes...there's a phone...does anyone here have a cellphone?"

"No. But I know a person who does, and luckily it's just where we are going." Kade smiled, for once.

The ninja exchanged glances.

"We are going to the hospital in Ninjago City."

"Uh..we really can't, we'd attract too much attention." Nya frowned.

"Don't worry," Kade rolled his eyes, gently giving Mali to her father. He then removed his swords from his belt, and they lit up with purple flames once more.

"Portal inferis nobis aperire viam vos obsecro."

The exact words he'd used that had gotten them into that awful demon infested land in the first place.

"Let's go."

And right through the portal they went.

"Honestly, why did you bring us here? You want us to die of infection?"

Kai glared angrily at Kade, his eyes narrowed through pain and exhaustion.

"No, it is the hospital...just the service end...watch this."

He tapped the butt of his sword against the door, and within two minutes, it opened slowly.

There stood the doctor from two weeks ago, the one who'd taken Mali, AJ, Kade and Akira back when they'd gotten sick. Only he looked different.

He had a pair of gray, goat like horns jutting from his skull, his hair longer and unkempt, with a black tint. His eyes, formerly gray, were now pale blue, like that of a blind mans. He wore a blood stained lab coat over sea foam coloured scrubs.

"Dante." Kade nodded.

"A friend of my fathers."

The demon seemed to be chewing something- flesh. Swallowing it quickly, he nodded. "Kade. I take it this isn't a normal coughing up blood attack or chest pains thing from your...kids?"

He took one quick glance at the group.

"No...I see it's not...come in."

"Hurry."


	51. Chapter 51

It had been about two days, and tension was thick in the air. Ever since they'd gone to the hospital, they'd tried to stay low. Luckily the hospital was closed, seeing as it was quite the phenomenon how hundreds of people on life support could just...die. So the able patients were moved to other hospitals, until it could be fixed.

Dante had immediately taken the injured, giving them medical treatment. Others, like Lloyd and Garmadon, had been given stitches and bandages, while others, like Kai and Mali, probably wouldn't even be able to help much anymore. Kai had needed surgery to keep the bone in place, and while he was bit upset about not fighting, he was glad Nya was safe.

Honestly, they couldn't even fight. Jay and Zane were with Sensei back in the woods, and almost everyone was injured, the few not injured helping as best they could.

"AJ is a bit better now," Dante said, sipping some coffee as he entered the lobby, their current area for those who wanted to keep up with the news, as the Evil Ones had been running about ever since they'd met in the woods. "Shall I bring him here? Or would you rather interrogate him in his room?"

"Bring him here, he deserves a little pain." Kade crossed his arms. Dante pursed his lips slightly.

"The boy was stabbed seven times..." But nonetheless, he walked down the hall, shortly returning with the boy, in a wheelchair.

"W-what?" AJ managed, not meeting everyone's gaze. His fingers were twitching, and his hair had been cut, so not to bother with the stitches behind his ear, seeing as the cut had spread up to the tip of his eyebrow.

"Let's talk, shall we?" The half- demon didn't wait for the half- serpentine to respond, immediately jumping into his lecture. "You are probably the only one Mali will even listen to, yet you foolishly run away with her, going only who knows where, and when we do manage to find you, you're all cut up and dying? Seriously, how stupid can you get?"

"I-I'm so-rry." AJ sighed, his voice breaking slightly.

"Why did you even run away AJ?" The older half breed asked quietly, resting an arm on the armrest of the wheelchair.

"M-Mali...she-" unable to finish his sentence, he merely put his wingers to his head, giving himself horns.

"Yes, we know." Kade sighed again. It hadn't come as a shock to Dante and himself, yet the ninja and their families were startled by it.

"Is that why?" The half- breed then asked, only to be slightly confused when AJ slowly shook his head.

"B-because of them t-too." He pointed at Amara and Garmadon.

"Well, that's understandable." Kade smiled, hating he fact he had to treat a boy three years younger than him like a child. But the boy had been scarred for a bit.

"Can I go back now?" The green haired teen asked quietly, regaining some of his voice.

"Yes." Nodding at Cole, the earth ninja pushed the boy to his room.

As soon as he'd left, Kade fell into a chair, pressing his bandaged fingers to his forehead.

"At least we know why they left." Kai sighed, wincing as he moved his arm to scratch his other arm.

"But we don't know if it's their fault that Fear attacked." Cole said, returning.

"Why would it be? They're literally no threat to anything."

"But they risk the chance of being one," Cole pressed forward. "None of them-" he quickly glanced at Kade. "Are even human."

"The fact of the matter is, what now?" Kai asked the question on everyone's minds.

"I suggest you get some rest," Dante murmured, slamming the ceramic mug on the table. "Let your wounds heal, get some training done, and try to destroy them from the inside."

"And how do you intend we do that?" Amara questioned, playing with her sword.

"Weaken them slowly...what's the one thing they have, but we easily could too?"

When nobody answered, he sighed. "An army."

"So you're suggesting we get a bunch of people to fight?" Cole shook his head. "I'd love to lower the casualty rate, thanks."

"Not exactly," Dante smirked slightly, nodding at a human anatomy chart. "You see, demons have specific weakness, unlike you...mortals..."

"For example...we can't be hurt by most metals...iron hurts like shit though...so we try not to go near that. Holy water...hell...even water is plain nasty. Salt...don't even get me started...religions...we're quite invulnerable to many things...if we supply humans with those things..."

"Great, we're going to defeat a bunch of monsters with water guns." Lloyd finally said softly.

"We are not monsters boy," the demon doctor growled. "What I'm saying is, give the humans iron armor and swords...coat weapons in holy water...that sort of thing."

"You're a demon too. Shouldn't you be helping your own kind?" Lloyd asked.

"And your sister is a demon too. Why don't you think what you are saying before it comes out of your mouth."

Then the doctor went to check on his charges, muttering under his breath. "Honestly, how that boy ever defeated the overlord..."

"Hey, I just realized," Kai began. "What if the Evil Ones side with other armies?"

"The skulkin fall apart too easily...snakes...I dunno...maybe. What about the stone army?"

"Most likely, if they can get the helmet of shadows. Think about it, their father created the stone army...it's pretty possible." Amara said.

"Lovely." Lloyd sunk deeper in his chair.

"Be more optimistic," his mother swatted his shoulder. "We stand a chance."

"Why haven't they come for us yet? Don't they want to kill us?"

"They want us to fight back when they kill us...apparently of we're injured...it's too easy." Garmadon said.

"Great. We get to get beat up again." Kai muttered.

"Look at it this way, we're alive." Cole frowned at him.

"Maybe not for long."


	52. Chapter 52

"So yeah...Kade's pretty pissed."

Mali nodded slowly, absentmindedly picking at the bandages covering a fourth of her face. AJ and herself were in one hospital room, the ninja and their companions in the other.

"I'd imagine. What we did was pretty dumb." Her voice was quiet, barely audible, but he heard it.

"I should've stopped you." AJ sighed, having regained some of his former strength back. Rising slowly from the uncomfortable plastic chair, he steadily limped towards the door.

"AJ." His friend sighed, placing the glass of water he'd brought her on the small white table next to the hospital bed.

"Yeah?" He asked, glancing at her, his eyes dull.

"Your shirt's all bloody." She muttered, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly.

"Well, who's fault is that?"

"I told you to stop with those jokes. One second." And she shakily slid to her feet, managing to make her way to the closet on the far side of the room, AJ watching her so she didn't fall. Slowly opening the closet door, she pulled out a bright blue scrub shirt, much similar in color to the sweatshirt the boy always wore.

The green haired half breed smiled. "Wow, my favorite color."

"Just change your shirt. There's too much blood."

"Really?" He smiled, brushing his thumb against one of the deep gashes that carved a smile into her face, quickly coating his own finger in blood. "Too much?"

"Stop it, that hurts," She winced, sitting back down. "Besides, I think we've had enough 'fun' for a while, don't you?"

"Well yes, robbing convenience stores and leaving dead bodies in bathrooms. Quite the average day for Snake Boy and Shadow Girl."

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, her red eyes narrowed. "Shadow Girl?"

"Oh please," he said, acting like a teenage girl- the kind with too much makeup that always spent time on their phones. "You appear from nowhere. You wear black twenty four seven. Never talk to anyone much. Hell, your middle name is Nyx. Shadow Girl is the prefect nickname for you."

Her face flushed a bright pink, before she glanced away. "Just...change...idiot." She murmured. AJ nodded, ripping his shirt off.

Mali couldn't help but look at the deep, pink scares lacerated across his entire back, slowly brushing her fingers over the ones on her arm. Of course, they were a be put darker, having a blood problem, but still.

Just as he'd tossed his shirt to the tiled ground, the door opened.

"Mali, are you awake?" Garmadon asked, quietly stepping in. "I'd really appreciate if we could-"

He caught site of AJ, standing shirtless in the middle of the room, then the fact his daughter was blinking profoundly, hiding her face in her pillow.

"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" He asked coldly, glaring daggers at the boy.

"What do you want?" His daughter replied, just as harshly. For someone restricted to bed rest for a few weeks, she was awfully normal.

"To talk. And why not now? We've been avoiding it since..." His voice drawled off, but they all knew what he meant. Since three weeks ago, when they'd been reunited.

"Fine," Mali caught everyone by surprise with this one word. "Let's talk, shall we?"

"Fine. Thank you," he sighed with relief, turning to AJ. "Would you mind-"

"But AJ stays." She interjected, crossing her arms.

"Whatever gets you to talk," Garmadon shrugged, sitting down in the other plastic red chair in the room. Over the next five minutes, the air was quiet and tense, untitled he former dark lord cleared his throat.

"AJ said you were sick."

Her steely red gaze mets AJ's orange. "He did...did he?"

"Yes, he did," the gray haired man sighed again. "Is that why you're never happy? Why you're so..."

"Emotionless?" She snapped, finally chuckling slightly, which caught him by surprise again. "Sadly, it's not. So if that's what your came here for you can-"

"It's not. I just...what's wrong then?"

"Nothing much. Just a lung problem." She leaned back, shifting her shoulders slightly.

"That's not nothing much. That's bad!" He rose slightly, eyes wide. She merely waved her hand for him to sit down.

"I can keep it in check. Besides we've been through worse. Probably more than you, old man."

Garmadon decided to ignore the cold insult at the end of her sentence. "I doubt that. What could a child go through that could possibly-"

He never finished his sentence, as within three seconds, the girl was leaning in front of him, her face dangerously close, hair brushed back to reveal the deep gashes over her eye.

"Like I said, we've been through worse." She repeated, and when he reached up to touch the scars, she was back in her original position.

"Besides," Mali gestured for AJ to turn, showing off the scars on his back. Garmadon was silent.

"I'm sure that's not the real reason you came here, is it?"

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "No, but it's important-"

"And I'm tired. Can we finish this later?" Mali sighed, sliding back so her head hit the pillow.

"Alright. See you tomorrow?" He asked her, smiling slightly.

"If I choose to leave the room, old man."

Nodding, Garmadon exchanged one last glance with AJ, before closing the door quietly behind him, sliding to the floor below.

"How'd it go?" Amara asked, kneeling in front of him, a faint smile on her face.

"Not well."

"Yeah well, I don't suspect it ever will...not with her."


	53. Chapter 53

"Snow's getting pretty deep."

Lloyd glanced out the window of the hospital room, before looking at Cole. "It's been three days, why haven't they attacked yet?"

"Hell if I know. I guess they wanted to regain their strength before trying to kill us." The earth ninja sighed, blinking slightly as he rose, walking to the windowsill.

"Maybe they-" Lloyd stopped, frowning a minute. "I'm going out."

"You can't," Cole didn't even glance in his direction. "We're under strict orders not to-"

"Cover for me, there's some things I want answered." The blond haired young man pressed his foot to the windowsill, pulling on a sweatshirt from the Lost And Found. When one was restricted to a hospital, they'd explore a bit. Kicking open the window, he crawled out, thankful for the soft snow as a cushion.

A small flame in his fingers, providing warmth, the golden green ninja walked quietly through the streets, looking for people. Only a few roamed, looking for last minute holiday gifts and buying hot chocolate.

Eventually, he came to the place he was looking for, the very place he'd stayed eight months, the very place Misako was murdered.

Nothing had changed. Nobody had cleaned up the blood staining the floor, or the tea cup shards. But he quickly grabbed the blue book of photos, shoving it in his jacket and continuing to walk down the hall.

"Lloyd."

He spun around, holding out the photo book, only for his eyes to narrow.

"Mom, what are you doing where?"

"You don't think I wouldn't notice you sneaking out, you aren't exactly the quietest person," She smiled, leaning against the wall. "I see you've found the book."

"Book?" He asked, walking up to her. She nodded, gesturing for the blue fabric coated cardboard.

"Yes, this is pretty much our lives, then yours. Why did you want it so badly that you had to sneak out?"

"You'd said you knew one of the Evil Ones...I thought maybe this might give some answers."

"It wouldn't," her demanor changed, and she sighed, brushing her hair back. "Lloyd, some things are better kept in the past. Yes, I did know one. Two, actually. But I don't feel comfortable talking about it here."

Lloyd nodded. "Let's go back then."

When they'd returned, everyone was sitting quietly in the waiting room. Kade was in the corner, his head in his hands...as if he was crying. AJ and Mali were nowhere to be seen, and the ninja were all giving weary glances at his father.

'Not this again.' Lloyd thought bitterly. 'You'd think they'd accept him by now."

"Oh," Garmadon smiled weakly. "You-"

"Shut up old man." Kade whispered bitterly, his voice hoarse and raspy.

"Shut up." And he began crying again.

"Kade I-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" The half breed rose, his hands full of purple flames.

"What's going on?" Lloyd asked, taking in the scene, he was confused and worried.

"I can't take this bullshit anymore." Kade rose, storming down the hall and throwing a door open.

"Get your shit together, we're leaving." And walking back down the hall. Nobody had ever seen the half breed so angry, so...dangerous,

Mali and AJ came rushing out a minute later, confusion painted on the letters face. "Kade...what's up?"

"Let's go AJ." And he threw the door open. "I'm getting Akira. We are leaving."

He waited for the other half breed to leave, but shoved Mali back. "You stay here, I don't want you near me right now."

"Hey!" Garmadon rose. "That was uncalled for!"

"I'll call her whatever I damn please, if she's your offspring." The raven haired, purple eyes teenager growled, startling everyone.

"I don't get it, what's-" and Kade slapped the small demon across the face with the back of his hand, forceful enough she hit the wall with a loud thud. A short moment later, his eyes widened and he stepped forward. "Mali I-"

"Fuck you." She whispered, trembling slightly, her eye already bruised up, a cut across her cheek.

"I'm-"

"Fuck you." And she ran back down the hall, slamming the door shut.

"Let's go AJ." Kade repeated, dragging the boy out. Nobody tried to stop them.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" Kai finally asked into the silence.

"I'll be right back." Lloyd rose, going to check on his sister, he returned, shaking his head.

"I think she's hiding in the closet."

That was a bit odd, but nobody questioned it.

"I'll tell you what damn happened." Dante rose.

"I didn't want to say anything but-"

"But what?" Lloyd asked.

"Garmadon killed Kade's father."


	54. Chapter 54

"And how do you know this?"

Amara rose, a steely grip on her sword, green eyes narrowed. Dante smirked at her, barely glancing at the old man accused of murder.

"I didn't at first, but then I realized this old bastard sounded awfully familiar, and I was with Kade's father when he was murdered, so I did my research on his medical files-"

"That's illegal." Kai interrupted, staring coldly between Garmadon and Dante.

"Do I look like I care, you little shit?" Dante hissed. "Anyways this old bastard has the same DNA as found in my best friends corpse!"

"You have no evidence," Lloyd said coolly, crossing his arms. Dante chuckled sadistically, rolling his sea foam eyes.

"Oh, you want evidence? I can give you evidence!" He stalked down the hall, only stopping to gesture for them to follow. Slowly, everyone rose, shuffling towards the demon. He ducked quickly into a room, and the sound of moving boxes filled the air, before he returned.

"Garmadon, does this man look familiar?" The demon doctor said quietly, holding out a photo. On it was a man who resembled Kade greatly, with the exception of longer hair and darker skin, next to him stood Dante, the two both held odd expression.

"Meet Xavier Hinamori," Dante smirked. "Of course, you already have, haven't you?"

There was a throbbing in the former dark lords head, and suddenly he couldn't breath. He'd pressed himself against the wall, sinking to the floor. Everything seemed surreal.

"I did..." He found himself whispering, clutching his head, which was shaking slowly. "I killed him."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kai chuckled, to who he thought was himself. He was quite surprised when Lloyd jumped on him, slamming his head against the wall.

"Shut up!" The golden ninja screamed, tears gushing down his face as he was pulled away from the fire ninja by Nya and his mother. The younger samurai kneeled down to check on her brother, while the other sighed, placing her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Dante began to yell at Garmadon, who started to defend himself. The ninja quickly joined in.

"Why don't you go check on your sister again? I'm sure she'd like the company."

"She doesn't like anything." He grumbled, but stalked down the hallway, shooting a quick glare at his father, who flinched.

Throwing the door open, Lloyd stormed in, slamming it just as loud behind him. The blond haired boy narrowed his green eyes, not seeing the girl anywhere in sight, but rather feeling a chill down his arms, and saw the window was open, snow blowing into the room.

"Shit!" He cursed, storming to the open window, and staring outside. Footsteps, already being rapidly being covered, led away from the building, as well as a few blood splotches.

"Can't stay in one place, can she!?" He snapped, shutting the window as he left the room. He was mad enough, his father being a murderer, but now his sister was missing again.

"She okay?" His mother asked him.

"She's gone again." Amara turned around to face him, dragging him away from the arguing ninja.

"But there's at least two feet of snow outside! Why?"

"I don't know. How's dad?"

"Honestly?" Amara sighed. "I'm upset he kept this from us...especially from Kade. If Kade and his father looked alike, wouldn't your dad have known from the start? And...this whole thing is just exhausting. I don't think he'll be fighting anymore."

Lloyd nodded slowly, taking everything in. Eventually he looked at his mother. "So what do we do?"

"We have to go find your sister. Look what happened last time," she groaned, gesturing to the hospital and the people arguing. "Maybe it'll take your mind off things?"

"Fine." He muttered, following her out of the hospital. Nobody noticed them slip out the front doors.

"Kadey?"

Kade glanced tearfully down at his young brother, who looked up with a curious expression.

"Where we goin?"

"Home." His voice cracked as he spoke, and he took a shaky breath.

"Why? Aren't we gonna fight?"

"Not anymore."

"Why? Where's Mali? Is the fighting over?"

"She's with her family," he winced at the word. "And it is...for us."

"I thought Mali didn't like them, why are we-"

"Her father did something to our father, and I can't really forgive her for it." He sighed! Not mentioning he'd slapped the girl across the face. Akira nodded slowly.

Then Akira reached out, gripping his older brothers hand. "It'll be cool to go home. Right?"

AJ smiled, glancing down. "You wanna sleep in your bed?"

"Yep!" The six year old chuckled.

"Kade."

Said half demon turned, seeing Mali fifteen feet away. She looked horrible, sickly and physically.

"You came all this way out here, after I slapped you?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sorry." Was all she said.

Kade stood in silence for a moment, before a small smile crossed his face, and he opened one of his arms. "Come here you little shit."

She sighed, but it was more content, and ran towards her friends, all of them wanting to go home.

Meanwhile, Satan smirked.

Everything was going according to plan.


	55. Chapter 55

The room was cold when Brad first entered it, having spent the two previous hours at some 'secret' party the floor below. It wasn't much of a secret, as the teachers had probably known about it, given the reputation of the students at that school. All they did, all they'd ever done was cause trouble.

"I'm back." He said softly, to no one in particular, rubbing a hand to his cheek where Sally had kissed him on a dare. His roommate, a new transfer boy named Damien, was probably sound asleep. Brad took great caution in crossing the room to climb into bed, ignoring the creaks and groans of the bed springs.

"Night Dam." He yawned, rolling to his side. There was a slight sigh, and the raven haired boy stuck his head over the side of the bunk bed.

"I can't sleep," The preteen complained. "I miss my family."

"Then why'd you come here?" Brad groaned, rolling over.

"Thought I'd find something special here."

Neither of them expected the screams that ensued.

"Who's knocking at the door?"

Dante rose, giving Garmadon yet another stern look, and swung the door open harshly, chuckling at the sight before him.

"Well I'll be damned."

Wu stood there, a firm grip on his nieces ear, and a bō staff in his right hand. Behind him stood Kade, holding Akira, the latter gripping his shoulders tightly, his face dug into the boys chest, eyes stained red, tears falling down his face. A few feet away, kicking absentmindedly at some snow, was AJ. Jay and Zane both smiled, waving slightly.

"Jay!" Nya shrieked, running to hug the blue ninja. Cole, Kai and Lloyd rose as well, greeting their formerly incapacitated companions.

The old Sensei had a slightly angry look on his face, as he dragged the girl in, quickly followed by her friends.

"I've said we need to stick together, yet I see these four wandering ninjago?!" He exclaimed, releasing his hold on Mali, who immediately clasped the side of her head.

"Where the hell have you been?" Amara directed towards the children, with an angry and relieved tone, asking the same thing she'd asked when they'd been ambushed by Fear.

"Fuck off." Mali growled, crossing her arms as the woman have a shocked expression.

Kade shot Mali a quick look, before turning to Dante. "Why is he still here?" He refererred to Garmadon.

"He has a right to be here." The doctor shrugged, turning to prepare some coffee.

"He has no right to be here!" Kade snapped, and Akira leaned away from him, squirming. Kade placed him to the floor, and the boy grabbed AJ's arm, burying his face into the soft sleeves.

"Kade. Enough. Do you want to die like your father?" Dante snapped, and the boy shut up. "Then I suggest you be quiet."

"Why are you here brother?" Garmadon asked quietly.

"Just delivering your child. And I received a dangerous message in the spirit smokes." He declared, stepping forward to lean against the wall.

"Right, because mystical smoke is so trustworthy." Mali hissed to AJ, who cracked a small grin. Wu shot them another look, before continuing.

"Lloyd, you recall Darkleys, correct?"

Lloyd groaned, placing a hand to his forehead. "How could I not forget that place?"

"Some students have been disappearing."

"Is this the work of the Evil Ones?"

AJ cupped a hand over his mouth, leaning down to Mali, and whispering, "Whoever gave them that name sure is a moron." She rolled her eyes, while Wu gave a sigh.

"If the peanut gallery is quite done, I'd like to continue," he tipped his rice hat up, turning to all the ninja. "We will need a few to go investigate."

"But we're all too old to go to school Sensei." Jay questioned, confused.

"Physically, but not mentally." AJ whispered again to his best friend, and finally Wu turned, pointing his bō staff at the boy.

"Enough of you!"

AJ backed away slowly, nodding slightly. "Yes Sensei."

"So, which of you is investigating anyway?" Mali, a bit more serious, asked, her arms crossed. Wu turned to her, smirking as he reached into a small bag, pulling out a bundle of papers.

"Oh, we aren't. You, AJ and Lloyd are."


	56. Chapter 56

"This is so itchy."

Lloyd tugged awkwardly at the collar of the pale green sweater tightly worn over the white button down. His slacks felt stiff and foreign, clothing he hadn't worn in a while. AJ merely chuckled, adjusting the black tie around his neck, before stuffing it down the sweater and smoothing it down with his fingers.

"Well, I'm excited," the half breed picked up the comb lying on the hospital table, quickly running it through his tangled neon locks. "I've never been to school."

Lloyd gave him an odd look. "Then where-"

He was cut off as his sister was shoved lightly into the room, a slight frown in her face. She wore the same getup as they did, but her hair had been chopped off, but her silvery bangs still covered her scarred up eye.

"Mali," AJ's vocie cracked as he held a hand to his mouth, stifling a laugh. "What have they done to you?"

The demon girl snapped her head in his direction, holding a pillow to her chest. "The school doesn't allow girls, so this was the best they could do."

"We still aren't done." Nya groaned, storming into the room and gently taking the small teenagers arm. In her hand was what looked like a roll of ace bandages, and forcing the girl to hold out her blackened arm, began to wrap it with the bandages.

"What's this even for?" Mali groaned alsightly, watching the samurai do her work. After a minute, Nya looked up, chuckling.

"If the Evil Ones were to see you, this might help a little."

"Ready guys?" Lloyd turned to the two, who nodded solemnly, grabbing first aid backpacks, having been emptied of their supplies.

"Well, it's now or never." He breathed, walking right past his father and the ninja, right into the cold outside.

A chauffeur for Darkleys stood there, his black suit void of any creases or wrinkles, his brown hair slicked back. "These are them? A bit smaller than we'd expected." He pinched Lloyd's ear, before sighing.

"Yes well..." Amara drifted off, shrugging with awkward look. "Do you mind if I get a few minutes with my sons?"

It felt a bit odd hearing her say that, and Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle. She sighed, turning to the siblings.

"It'll be okay guys," she slipped Lloyd a small, store brand cellphone. "My number is already on this, any problems, just call, okay?"

He nodded, smiling back. "Sure mom. I promise."

She smiled, brushing her fingers to his face, before turning to Mali.

"You'll have to use your full name there, you okay with that?" She asked quietly, kneeling down. Mali nodded slightly, and Amara smiled at her too, but wearily.

"Behave you three, and update us if you notice anything." Opening the door, she quickly waved goodbye, before going inside.

"Bye mom." Lloyd whispered, before facing the car.

"Let's do this."

The car ride was long, extremely quiet, but eventually they got there, the chauffeur grimacing as he opened the door, letting the three teenagers out. "Enjoy your stay." And stalking around the school.

Almost immediately, a plump man with a bushy mustache and oily brown hair threw the doors open, rushing down the steps and enveloping Lloyd in a tight hug.

"Mr. Garmadon! What an honor to have you here! Darkleys is honoured! Simply honoured!"

"Thank...you?" Lloyd gently pushed the man off, stepping back as he brushed creases from his uniform. The large man turned to the two others, baring his yellowed teeth.

"And who might you be?"

"I'm Acidicus Junior." AJ twitched slightly, but nonetheless held a smile. The plump mans grin only seemed to widen, and he grabbed AJ's hand, shaking it violently.

"Big fan of your fathers work boy! Big fan!"

"Thanks," AJ hissed. "That makes one of us."

"And you?" He peered over his tiny glasses, the ones pushed to the bridge of his nose, at Mali, who sighed, speaking in a slightly gruff voice.

"Samael. Son of a demon."

"Well, that's interesting!" The man smiled. "Do you have proof?"

'Of course not,' Lloyd was about to say, when two large black raven wings opened up on either side of the girl, who looked annoyed.

"That enough proof?"

The plump man, unfazed, nodded quickly, grasping Lloyd's hand and leading in the three. "Come! Come!"

"Darkleys is just dying to have you all!"

"Lloyd-" Mali suddenly hissed, jabbing him in the ribcage. "Give me your sunglasses."

"Why should I-" he turned to look at her, only to see her eyes red and black, like when they'd found Blasphemy. "Right." Fumbling with his pack, he pulled the pair out, and the girl slid them to her face.

At least they knew what they were dealing with.


	57. Chapter 57

Not even five minutes after they'd entered the school, the bell rung, and students filled the once empty hallways, already making comments about the three new 'transfer students'.

"Is that Lloyd Garmadon?"

"Are those weirdos his friends?"

"Does that one have wings?"

"Why is Lloyd Garmadon here?"

"Silence! All of you! To your classes!" The pudgy man snapped, flailing his large, flabby arms in their faces, before turning to Lloyd, Mali and AJ. "I'm so desperately sorry, curious little ones, they are-" he grabbed a student with brown hair, ruffling the thick strands on his angelic face, before the boy shoved past him, heading to a nearby classroom.

"Now, let's get you settled in!" He led the small group to a door farther into the building, the brown paint chipped around the edges of the frame. Hastily shoving a key into the small keyhole, the large man shoved into the room, revealing two bunk beds with pale blue quilts and four small dressers. A closet, slightly cracked open was on the wall and sighing, the three stepped in, followed by the man.

"I'll let you get settled, I'll come back in an hour!" The large man rushed from the room. Lloyd sat on one of the beds, rummaging through his backpack as he pulled out various things, placing them in the dresser, before sighing.

"I think we should make some friends here, try to find out what's going on." The ninja spoke softly, turning to his sister and her best friend.

"Good enough, but we really need more information on who disspaeared. Do  
>parents even know?" AJ asked. Lloyd shook his head.<p>

"No...most of them don't even pay attention to their kids."

"Then we'll fit right in!" Mali said, flashing a rare smile.

"Yeah..." Lloyd drifted off, lying back and shutting his eyes. "Let's just get some rest before that guy comes back."

And they did just that.

Lloyd's gaze shifted to AJ, who stared down at the tray in front of him, mortified. The other students, having gotten the information they'd wanted from the new students, had quickly grown bored, eating their own dinner.

On the tray sat some sort of gray mystery substance, resembling a slab of meat. Next to it was some vegetable, accompanied by a glass of water.

"Lloyd..." AJ began, glancing up at the ninja. "You've been here before...please...tell me this is decent?" He poked the odd gray meal with his fork, shuddering at the rubbery texture.

"I'm sure it is." Lloyd muttered, tapping his spoon to the table. He was staring at the faces of Brad, Gene and a new boy, with raven hair and crimson eyes, a bit younger than them, when a slam caught his attention.

Mali pulled a chair to the table, sitting down as she rested her arms on the back, having thrown her own tray to the table.

"What the hell is this?" She hissed poking it with a claw and looking at her brother, the boy shrugging.

"Thanks." AJ grumbled, stabbing the indelible gray slab with a fork, just as Gene and Brad walked up to the table, the formers arms crossed over his light blue sweater.

"Lloyd Garmadon," he began, and AJ had to avoid laughing at his voice by ducking under the table. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know." Lloyd smiled, drumming his fingers to the table. Gene narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth to speak.

"No, we don't know. Why are you here?" The redhead sneered, leaning on the table.

"Not now Gene." The ninja was trying not to snap at the boy, and instead rose, walking to refill his glass. Gene and Brad turned to AJ and his friend, crossing their arms.

"What are you two supposed to be?" Brad crossed his arms, bending down slightly to meet their eyes.

"AJ. I'm half snake." AJ slid his tray into the trash, raising his glass to his mouth and sipping the water.

"Demon. My name is Samael." Mali did the same, running her finger through against the glass, absentmindedly drawing a face on it. Gene only snickered, shoving his glasses up his nose.

"My dad says demons are attacking Ninjago! But you don't look that powerful!"

Mali rose, her claws almost ripping through the bandages, AJ grabbing her arm, when Lloyd returned, smiling awkwardly. "Did I...miss anything?"

"No," Brad shot a look at the two, before nudging Gene. "We were just leaving."

"We probably should too," Lloyd glanced down at his little sister. "We have class tomorrow."

"Okay." Standing up, the girl almost bumped into a taller boy with bandages on his hands, his black hair falling in his eyes, a slight smile crossed his face, and he bowed slightly.

"My utmost apologies."

"It's fine. Let's just go." Lloyd took her arm, ushering them from the cafeteria.

"Are you going to call your mom?" AJ asked, weaving through the halls, and Lloyd nodded.

"I think some demons are here." He nodded to Mali, who nodded back, still wearing the sunglasses.

"Okay. Could there be more than one?"

"I think that's why she gave me the phone, just in case."

"I'm tired."

"Let's just go to bed."

Lloyd stopped, staring down the now dark hallway, his eyes narrowed, before continuing to catch up to his friends.

"What was that for?"

"Sorry...thought I saw something."


	58. Chapter 58

Lloyd could barely get sleep that night. Not only due to the mixed emotions of going to school for what could be the last time, but also, the window had been let open, an icy breeze filling the room with a slight chill. But he didn't get up to shut it, just lay staring at the wooden beams of the top bunk above his head, then to his sister on the opposite side of the room, facing away from him, the blanket cradled in her arm. He hoped she'd at least gotten some sleep. AJ had passed out hours ago, snoring slightly.

Eventually Lloyd shut his eyes, hoping to get some rest, when light footsteps slid to the floor and he reopened his green eyes again, slightly turning his head to see Mali had stood up, her hands resting on the now closed window.

"Did I wake you up?" She asked quietly, not even looking at him as she limped back to the bed, sighing as she rested her head against the pillow. Lloyd smiled slightly, using the chance to get to know his mysterious sibling better.

"No, I've been up all night," He yawned pressing his fingertips to the wood above him. "Besides, the beds can get comfortable after a while. Just need to get used to it." He chuckled glancing at the window, then back at her.

"Yeah..." Her voice drifted off, and she sighed. "Aren't you tired?"

He nodded a bit. "A little, but I'm pretty excited to go back to school. Don't you have to go to school? In the...demon world?"

She coughed slightly, finally looking at him. "No."

"Lucky." He chuckled, hoping to make her laugh or at least smile. But she simply looked at him, as if expecting him to attack. Sighing once more, he rolled onto his back, asking yet another question.

"Did you run away too?"

"What?" Finally getting a reaction, the girl sat up, flipping her hair from her face. But she just sighed, lying back down. "I'd tried. Any chance I'd get."

Before Lloyd could ask what she meant, AJ joined the conversation by tossing a pillow at Lloyd.

"Shut up and go to sleep!"

The classroom was a dull color, full of droning, half asleep students. The cold, mid December chill didn't help add to the affect, and Lloyd sighed, resting his head in his hands, his eyes shutting-

-just as a book slammed to a counter top, and his eyes shot back open. At the front of the room was a man with messy, spiked black hair, partially in a ponytail and cold black eyes. Lloyd presumed him to be the teacher, but what was most odd about him was the fact his eyes were entirely black, no white, no color.

"Your teacher-" he began, stepping forward. Already, desks were squeaking as fearful students moved back, and even Mali and AJ looked a bit frightened. Lloyd merely smiled a bit, already thinking this could be why the students were missing. "Is on vacation. I will be your substitute, of course." He turned, picking up a piece of pale yellow chalk, and writing on the board, his name.

"Malphas?" Gene of course, inquired. "What kind of name is that?" The dark, brooding man turned to glance at him, before throwing the chalk at his head.

"It is a name. Why is your name a molecular unit of heredity?" He smiled harshly, baring his pale gray fangs, before writing more things on the board. "Turn to page eight in your textbooks, and complete the following activities-"

"Hey, Sam-" Lloyd hissed at Mali, wih immediately shot him a look. He motioned for her to sit in the empty seat next to him, and releculantly sighing, she did so. "What?"

"I think this guy-"

"Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Samael, I'll thank you kindly not to speak. See me after class." Malphas didn't even turn, and Mali glanced at her brother, mouthing two simple words.

"Damnit Lloyd."

Ignoring the hurt look on his face, she continued her work.

"Detention for two days." He quickly wrote on the pastel slips of paper, sliding them towards the two.

"Perhaps next, you shall think about your actions before you fulfill them." Resting his hands on the desk, Lloyd noticed almost instantly his fingernails were a black color, sharper than most, almost...claw like.

"I'm a demon, if that's what you're thinking, stupid boy." He chuckled, rising and walking to the window.

"Are you the one causing the disappearances?" Lloyd slid his hand to his pocket, where he'd hidden a pocket knife.

"No. I've only recently arrived by more...supernatural beings..." His eyes drifted to Mali, but shot back to Lloyd. "I thought I sensed great power...must have been you boy. And out the knife away, won't do a damn thing to me."

Said weapon clattered to the ground, and Lloyd stepped forward, a ball of light already in his hands. Malphas chuckled again, this time turning back to them. "I came to help you boy."

"So...what makes you so sure we can trust you?" Mali finally asked, not meeting his gaze.

"You can't, that's the fun part." Stepping towards them, his appearence changed to a man with short brown hair and a small goatee. A perfectly friendly, normal looking man. Yet Lloyd heard a sharp intake of breath, and when he turned, his sister was gone.

"She ran. As expected," Malphas nodded, returning to himself. "So boy, what makes you frightened?"

His appearance changed then...to Dareths rotted corpse. And while Lloyd gasped, he turned back quickly, resting a hand to his chin. "No...not that quite."

"I think I know it..." He smiled then, before disappearing entirely, leaving Lloyd alone in the dark, cold room, when the demon whispered in his ear, sending chills down his spine.

"You're scared to be alone."

"Hey, Malphas-"

And just as Lloyd turned around, he was met with barely familiar golden eyes.

"Torture." His own green eyes narrowed.

"Who?" The boy asked, tilting his head. "My name is Leo. I'm sorry." He shoved past the ninja, leaning to mention something to Malphas, and after a moment, they both laughed.

"Get your sister back in here Garmadon." Malphas wiped his eyes as Leo left.

"How do you-"

"I'm not stupid. Besides, I know all...see all."

"I don't trust you." Lloyd narrowed his eyes, and only when Malphas decided to follow him did he go.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" Malphas smirked at the girl, who'd been pressed against a locker, a look of utmost terror in her eyes.

"What are YOU doing her?" She hissed, trembling.

"I'd like to help you two...fight Satan as it is..." He looked down both ends of the hall, before turning towards them, resting against the column between lockers.

"But...I thought humans can't fight Satan..." Malphas nodded towards Mali, and Lloyd forced himself to laugh.

"Oh hell no, she's not fighting him. She's just a kid!"

"I'll pretend that wasn't insulting." She muttered coldly, shoving her hand in her pocket.

"Perhaps if we-"

"Don't try anything on my sister." Lloyd warned, standing in front of the girl, only for her to shoved him away.

"I can take care of myself!" Mali hissed, and Malphas only laughed again.

"Well..perhaps not fight Satan...but at least train you...both of you...your birthday is coming up soon...next week..." Mali nodded shakily, and he continued.

"Well then. I'll help you much more than a filthy half breed ever could."

"Promise not to pull that stuff again." The albino started to chew her fingernail, and Malphas raised an eyebrow.

"I promise." He nodded.

"I'm calling mom. This is ridiculous." Lloyd started to begin down the hall, when his sister stopped him.

"Call that bitch, and it will be the last thing you do."

"She's our mother!" He whispered harshly, his eyes widened in shock.

"Not mine." Before turning to Malphas, holding her hand out.

"Fine."

Malphas shook it. "I'm glad you accepted."

"Very glad indeed."


	59. Chapter 59

It had been three long, brutally exhausting days since the three had gone undercover at Darkleys Boarding School, and as expected, no students had gone missing. Perhaps it was th fact that the ninja who'd defeated the overlord was maybe the fact Malphas just seemed to scare the shit out of everyone he came into contact with.

Mali and Lloyd hadn't spoke to each other since the former had agreed to train with Malphas, whom had grown just as suspicious each day. Poor AJ was caught in the middle of the sibling feud, and barely talked to his best friend anymore. The half serpentine only had his studies to occupy him. It wasn't the same.

The door behind him slid open, Lloyd himself walking in, a cold harsh look. Behind him was Mali, her own hair pushed from her face, scarred eye visible to all. Both had ink splattered across their pale sweaters, and AJ couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"What's...happened here?" He asked slowly, and Mali pulled the sweater off over her head, tossing the stained clothing to the bed, before slowly undoing the bandages on her arm.

"Ask Lloyd." She said coldly, giving said young man a slight glare, before AJ turned to the ninja, who returned the steely gaze as he spoke.

"We had detention today...from Malphas. I dropped some ink and it broke. No big deal," He shrugged. "Of course, if someone hadn't complained the entire time, we would have gotten done quicker."

"You spilled ink on my shirt. I had every right to complain." The albino brushed her short white hair from her equally pale face, then sat down, dusting chalk dust off her slacks.

"I'm calling mom." Lloyd declared softly, grasping his phone from the dresser and stoelling to the bathroom, the door locking and shutting behind him.

"So...Mali.." AJ smiled wearily at his companion, who only scoffed slightly.

"I'm not talking to him."

"I didn't say you had to," he said softly, turning and retrieving a small, hastily newspaper wrapped box from a dresser, her red eyes caught his, and a confused gasp escaped her mouth.

"What's that?" As he placed the box on her lap, grinning slightly as he turned.

"Birthday present. Since...it's tomorrow after all."

She smiled back, but the forced grin didn't reach her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked cautiously, drumming his fingers together.

"I'm scared." She whispered, her hair falling in her face.

"Why would you be scared? You get power! It'll be so cool!"

"That's just it!" Mali rose, quickly shooting a glance at the bathroom door, where Lloyd was. "What if I go crazy? Like my dad? What if I don't remember anyone? I don't want..." She paused. "To forget you..."

"It will be fine," And like that, any fear melted away, and he patted her head. "Open your gift Sammy."

And she cautiously started to rip away at the paper with a single claw, only to come in contact with a brown cardboard shoebox, and, after ripping away more paper, finally opened the box.

In its contents was a present, simple yet sweet. A wool, black and white striped scarf. Normally, children the young, almost fourteen year old demons age would want something a little more...entertaining. But she just smiled a bit wider, tilting her head, as if examining it from another angle.

"It's beautiful." She lifted the cloth from the box, wrapping it around her fingers.

"Thanks AJ...you didn't have to do this."

"That's not all." He'd edged a bit closer, his eyes not meeting hers.

"You don't have to do anything else-" she began.

"N-no!" AJ hit the wall, startling the young girl. "I've been meaning to do this for a while!"

And he crashed his lips against hers.

.

.

Only for her to shove him off, her eyes wide,

"AJ, what the hell?" She whispered, pressing her fingers to her mouth.

"I thought you felt the same way." His diseases heart was slowly breaking, and he moved forward slightly, only for her to press herself to the wall.

"No! I never felt the same way!" She gasped, breaking into a coughing fit, a crimson liquid staining her fingers red. "I always thought you were my best friend...like a brother...AJ I can't-"

"No," he snapped coldly, his eyes narrowed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "No I get it. It's because I'm a freak, isn't it?"

"That's not it at-"

"Yes it is!" He yelled. "You said so yourself. How could anyone love a freak?!"

Tears stained his eyes, and he strode to the door, throwing it open, and turning back once more.

"Well I loved you."

And before she could call out to him, the door was slammed shut, leaving the girl all alone.


	60. Chapter 60

"Hey mom."

Lloyd spoke clearly into the recover, his blurriest reflection in the mirror copying his exact moves, right down to his bloodshot eyes and tangled hair.

"Hi Lloyd," his mothers soft, gentle reply came moments later. "How's school going?"

"It's fine. Classes are fine."

"How are AJ and your sister?"

He couldn't bring himself to speak about Malphas, to say how sure he was that man was taking the children away. How he'd lost any chance of trust with his sister because of that demon. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"She's not my sister."

There was a barely audible sigh, before Amara spoke again. "Of course she is Lloyd. She's just-"

"No!" His voice cracked as he rose, slamming his fist to the sink. "Don't you get it? She hates us! Wants nothing to do with us!"

Before his mother could try and calm him down, he spoke again. "Don't try and bother. She called you a bitch."

Hearing the woman gasp on the other side of the receiver only made Lloyd angrier. Couldn't the girl be like normal siblings? The kind you bickered wih sometimes, but always ended up getting along with? Why'd she have to be...like THAT?

"Seriously, what happened that made her such a-"

"Lloyd!" His mother snapped sharply, cutting him off. "I understand you may not get along well, but she is still your sister. She's been through a lot is what I'm guessing. Neither of you have any right to be rude!"

Lloyd could have hung up right then and there, but instead he slid against the wall, resting his chin in a cupped hand, listening to what seemed to be his sister and AJ talking. Of course, the bathroom was very soundproof, and he could barely hear what was going on. So he ran his fingers through his blond hair, and spoke.

"I know...but I'm just tired of all this crap. I want to go once without fighting someone, be it my sister...or a bunch of demons."

"I know Lloyd," She said softly, drumming her fingers against the counter she was sitting at. "I know."

"Whatever." The gold ninja chuckled. "How's dad?"

"Your father? He's fine. A bit under...house arrest...but fine." They both sighed.

"The guys still hate him?"

"I'm honestly not even sure...get some rest, alright son?"

Lloyd nodded, fully comprehending the woman couldn't see him, and slowly spoke. "Yes mom."

Hanging up the phone, the boy slid the door open, quite surprised to see his younger sister gripping what looked like a black and white scarf in her hands, claws poking through the seams. She sat on her knees, facing the door, her breath heavy and shaky.

"Are you...alright?" Lloyd managed, blinking. Mali looked up, her eyes bloodshot, stained red as tears dripped down her pale skin. Shaking her head slowly, the girl rose shakily, burying her head in his chest.

"I take it you aren't." He muttered, resting his chin on the top of her head, careful to avoid her horns. She shook her head, shoving his off slightly.

"No...I'm fine. Just tired." She nodded, as if convincing herself of this.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine Lloyd!" She snapped, standing up and tossing the object in her fingers on the bed. "Let's just go...we have a class, remember?"

"Maybe you should stay here." He muttered, nodding back, before he closed the door before she could even respond.

Lloyd picked up his pencil, beginning to write his name on the piece of paper that lay in front of him, but just as he'd written the date-December 20- a bell began to ring.

"That's odd." The teacher chuckled slightly. "This class doesn't end yet."

Almost shortly after, the voice of the principal came on the intercom, his tone panicked and rushed. There was also movement, like someone running around.

"Students," The large man panted, slamming an object on his desk. "We are under attack. This is not a drill. I repeat-"

There was a choking sound, then static. Lloyd's heart rate quickened as someone picked up the microphone.

"Students, this is Satan," said demon began, before chuckling. "My brethren and I understand the gold ninja and some of his companions are here. Hand them over, and the casualty rate shall go no further."

They'd killed the principal, and now they were going to kill him. Gene rose, running to the classroom intercom and slamming his fist on the small red button.

"Yes?" Satan drawled, his voice like static, sharp and like nails on a chalkboard.

"The gold ninja is in Room 230! He's here!"

"That's excellent," Satan laughed. "Thank you." There was a click, and he hung up.

"You idiot!" Lloyd spat. "You've put us all in danger!"

Gene only laughed. "He only wants you! We'll be safe!"

Lloyd merely backed up against the opposite wall, a ball of glowing golden energy in his hands. The door swung open.

In walked Torture, his hands in his pockets, he easily ducked the light Lloyd had thrown at him, sending the energy into a locker, shattering it to pieces.

"I'm happy." He said to nobody in particular.

When no one responded, he looked around. "Will no one ask why I am happy?"

Silence.

"I am happy, because-" in almost an instant, he was in front of Lloyd. "I can finally do this." And he swung a dagger upwards, right into the boys stomach.

For a quick moment, all he felt was sharp, burning pain, and warm blood dripping down his lips. This must have been what his sister had felt when she'd been impaled. Then came the shock, like his organs were shutting down, before a heavy force shut his eyelids, and he fell forwards, right onto Torture, unconscious.


	61. Chapter 61

*gruesome chapter ahead*

He was awake, but couldn't open his eyes. All he could feel was the horrid, stabbing pain on his stomach. Torture had stabbed him.

After what could have been ages, his eyes finally managed to open, only to reveal a dirty, stained ceiling, and cold, cement floor. Dirty water dripped onto his skull, which felt as if it had been repeatedly thrusted against a blunt object. Blood caked his hands, which had been resting against his stomach. The wound felt maybe four inches deep, and he felt like it had punctured an organ or two. Then, sharp, horrible screaming filled his thoughts.

Barely able to look beside himself, he saw a student, maybe his sisters age, strapped to a table, a small, cage sitting on his stomach, in which contained a filthy, black rat, it's fur matted with grease and caked with blood. Atop the cage rested a hot rock, radioactive heat waves visible as they warmed up the steel cage, the rat growing restless and agitated. The poor student was sobbing his bloodshot eyes out, crimson liquid spilling from his mouth to the ground, his head thrashing against its restraints, as the rat began to dig its sharp claws into his flesh. Unable to look any longer, Lloyd turned his head in the opposite direction, only to see something just as horrifying.

Another boy, no more than ten, was sitting against the ground, both his chest and face stained with blood. What appeared to be a choke was strapped firmly to his neck, two metal sticks sticking from either side, both of which buried deap into his sternum and jaws, two sharp prongs visible through his gaping mouth, his eyes lifeless and milky, as there must have been another prong, buried deep into his heart.

Eventually, Lloyd slowly sat up, attempting to ignore the horrible pain, and saw the latest torture ten feet away from him.

Another boy, so mutilated his age and appearance was unrecognisable, was sitting upright in what looked like an L shaped metal beam, a leather strap attached to a wheel tied tightly around his neck, buried deep into his flesh, blood gushing from his jaws, the wheel moved slowly, until finally, a loud snap was heard, and the boy fell forward to the ground, his neck in two.

"O-h..god..." Lloyd whispered, raising his shaking fingers to his mouth. "Oh...my...god.."

This must have been where all the students had been going to, he was sure of it. Before he could process any more, a heavy, metal toed boot came in contact with his ribs, which snapped beneath its weight. Torture smirked down at him, his teeth stained with bits of blood and flesh, before he spoke.

"They're admirable, are they not? Is there one you wish to try out?"

Shaking his head rapidly, the ninja spat blood at his feet. Torture sighed. "I'm honestly surprised you're awake, must not have stabbed deep enough."

"L...leave...me...alone." Lloyd managed. Shaking his head, the demon leaned again the table the student had been strapped too, lifting the rat from the cage, as it squealed and scratched at his skin. Gripping it in his fist, the gray skinned monster strolled back, placing it on the ground. Lloyd almost screamed as it ran towards him, but his voice had gone, left him.

Now near a jar of what looked to be human eyeballs, Torture reached in, pulling out a small, brown eye, and shoving it in his own empty socket, blinking a few times. "You see Lloyd, these things make me happy. Like you enjoy your human things, or your sister enjoys killing people, I enjoy my pets." He picked up a large raven with greasy feathers that had been plucking at a corpse, placing it on an empty table.

"You can turn back now Malphas."

Lloyd's eyes widened in shock, and realisation as the raven turned to his substitute teacher. He'd been right. Malphas had been behind this, and now stood on front of him, plucking feathers off his hair and...bare skin.

"For...crying...out..loud!" Lloyd managed, shutting his eyes, just as immature as when he'd been small. "Put some...clothes...on!"

Both of them laughed, Malphas leaning dangerously close. "I'm quite surprised you'd known from the start."

"Of course...you demons..are all just..bastards." He coughed up blood, which hit Malphas in his face, and the raven demon turned, wiping it softly off with his fingers and placing them in his mouth.

"I wouldn't really be saying that...isn't your dear sister a demon...oh right! She's not your sister, at least not to you anymore."

"Piss off." Lloyd snarled, narrowing his eyes, and Malphas laughed again.

"Yes, I see how they are related."

"What did you say about demons again?"

"I said...they're all sick...bastards..."

"Why thank you...can we show you something?" Not waiting for an answer, Torture picked Lloyd up as if he were a limp rag doll, tossing him harshly into a rusted wheelchair.

They wheeled the ninja down the hall, dumping him off in a white room splattered with blood with no windows or doors, with the exception of the one they'd just entered through. It was square, about twelve feet by twelve feet.

It was then Lloyd noticed his family and friends all lay limp on the ground, what appeared to be metal stakes impaled in their hands, their eyes all rolled to the back of their skulls.

"What did you..do..to them?" Lloyd crawled to his uncle, the old mans beard matted with blood. Wu looked as if he'd had a seizure, his skin cold and clammy.

"Uncle...?" Lloyd asked. "Guys...? Are any of you okay?"

Kai looked the worst off, a green, pale gash in his throat, but not deep enough to kill him...Lloyd hoped.

"What did you do to them?" He shouted, standing up and facing the demons.

"Nobody is dead," Malphas smiled honestly, yet Lloyd still didn't trust him. "Wait till you see what we've done to your sister and her friends." And they grabbed him, leading him to another room.

While the four were not dead, they were injured, covered in cuts and bruises. His sister looked to have a needle wound in her arm, which dripped a green liquid. They were all unconscious, their weapons gone, and arms strapped to the walls.

"Mali!" Lloyd hissed. "What did you do?"

"Well, think Lloyd," Torture rolled his eyes. "What's the one thing you're father had that completely ruined your relationship until recently?"

Lloyd's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. "You...didn't..."

"Devourer's Venom is easy to find, if you look carefully."

"I'll...KILL YOU!" Lloyd screamed as he rose, summoning light in his open palms. Malphas and Torture stepped back, a bit cautious. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Tell Satan, Lloyd has snapped." Malphas whispered slowly, his eyes wide. Torture nodded, running in the opposite direction. Lloyd leapt at the raven demon, grabbing his neck in his hands, which glowed gold.

"Lloyd..please..." Malphas gasped, struggling for air. "I..I can fix her...just...let me.."

"Nothing can fix what you've done, you fool," Lloyd hissed, tightening his grip. "You're a worthless bastard...and you need to be taught a lesson. You're lucky I don't kill."

Malphas sighed with relief, only to gasp again as Lloyd dragged the now weak, dazed man to the wheel that had choked the other boys neck. Throwing Malphas forcefully against the machine, he strapped him in, turning it on.

"Have fun Malphas." He sneered, walking away as the mans screams filled the air.

Then silence.


	62. Chapter 62

In the short time Lloyd and the ninja had been gone, Ninjago had been turned into a state of mass panic, cars flying in and out of the city limits, picking up minimally ill relatives and family from schools and houses, and exiting to safer areas. The demons ambush had spread like hellfire, cold and dark. Already, the Evil Ones had begun their homicidal rampage, dead bodies strewn across the ground like trash. Occasionally, Disease would stop by a corpse, injecting something in it, and it would rise, it's skin a pale, unearthly grey, eyes as black as night.

Those who had the fortune of survival were evacuated to the storm shelters underground, clutching crying babies and the bare necessities they'd been able to grab before escaping. Tears stained the citizens faces, they'd already lost so much in such short time.

"Satan," a small girl, the only Evil One unseen by the ninja, Pain, turned to the taller, crimson haired devil. "They are underground." She brushed her short, choppy brown hair from her face, smiling faintly.

"Right beneath us?" When she nodded, he smiled back, raising his foot and slamming it against the asphalt, from which webbed cracks began to spread, heavy rock raining down on the citizens, crushing them beneath its weight.

"Torture tells me Lloyd has finally snapped, as expected, of course." Satan nodded once more, followed by the laughter of four other demons. Nobody noticed the gold clad ninja behind them, his uniform ripped to shreds, blood staining his front crimson, his eyes glowing faintly golden.

"Hey," Lloyd limped forward. "It's not nice to talk about people...behind their backs."

Blasphemy moved forward, yet Satan held an arm out in front of him, shaking his head slowly, a large grin on his face. "Lloyd Garmadon, the pleasure," he bowed, his arm cross his abdomen, looking up at Lloyd with now a cold sneer. "Is all mine."

"The only pleasure," Lloyd held up a katana, golden green eyes narrowed. "Is your death."

Golden energy radiated off the ninja in waves, his anger so great, the power was seaping through him. In one hand, he clutched a golden, blood stained sword, in the other, the head of Malphas, the demons head pale, eyes milky black and rolled to the back of his skull, blood dripping to form a puddle at the ground. His breath was dry and shaky, but Lloyd moved forward, the head landing in its blood.

"You..I see Malphas was too weak for you," Satan sighed. "I really should start-"

"Shut the hell up." Lloyd's voice had a sharp edge,and Blasphemy growled at him, ready to throw his own weapon.

"How dare you interrupt my brother! I'll kill you for-"

"Enough Blasphemy," Satan said calmly. "What do you want Lloyd?"

"What do I want?" The ninja pretended to ponder this a moment, before laughing. "You and me, one on one."

"Fair enough." A blood red trident appeared in his hand.

"It's now or never."

"Hey. Bastard. Wake the fuck up."

Garmadons eyes felt as if heavy weights had been laid upon them, until a cold hand slapped his face harshly, leaving a sting. He could already feel the bright red, hand mark on his cheek, and instinctively reached up to rub it, only to find his hand was plastered to the ground, a sharp pain quickly reaching his brain. His hands had been impaled to the ground.

"I swear to god next time I will fucking hit you. Wake up already!"

His eyes, barely open now, only provided blurred, unhelpful vision. But he knew enough that Kai was crouching over him, a blank, almost angry expression on his paler than usual face.

Kai spoke, unfazed at Garmadon, lying in his own blood on the ground. "Get up. I'm not lying when I say Hells broken loose."

"Where's...Lloyd?" He managed thankful as he ripped the metal stakes from his hand, allowing him to sit. The other ninja and his family had already risen, their hands bandaged and stitched up, probably from Dante, who stood there, arms crossed.

"We don't know. But I'm sure he's feeling a hell of a lot better than us right now." The fire ninja stated.

"Where's my daughter?" Garmadon rose, gripping Kai and Amara's own bloody hands for support, pointedly glaring at AJ and Kade specifically, the two young men shrugging, yet Kade had a small smile on his face.

"You expect me to fight, when my children could be dead?"

"Something tells me we will see them very soon, perhaps they were evacuated with the rest of Ninjago." Wu said calmly resting a hand in the mans shoulder, Garmadon wrenching his arm away from the old Sensei.

"You'd better hope they're alright."

"We must go Garmadon, I'm sure the kids are fine." Amara smiled, gripping his hand, her own eyes bloodshot.

"You're right. It's now or never."

"Fuck."

Mali stared at herself in the mirror, eyes wide, before turning around.

"Have to hide my face, fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck."

The room was cluttered, and she'd been using a shattered mirror to see her reflection. While the girl dug through the piles of debris and garbage, she sang, off key, 'Happy Birthday' under her breath, before tossing down the cardboard box she'd just grabbed, laughing.

"I'm barely recognisable now...maybe...fuck it." She kicked a box out of her way, grabbing another that read 'Confiscated Items' and ripping it open, a smile growing on her face. In the box lay a gas mask, missing a canister

"Looks like my luck has changed," and holding it in her claws, began making adjustments to the object, before placing it on, tightening the scarf AJ had given her around her neck, and leaning against the wall. "Will it..work..now?"

Holding her claws out, she shut her eyes, her breathing heavy and deeper with the mask on. Her voice even sounded different. But eventually, she felt what appeared to be a metal bar appear between her hands, and her eyes shot open.

In her grip lay a black scythe, the obsidian handle looking as if it were being melted into the three foot long ebony blade. She almost laughed. "And...?"

Holding her other set of claws out, she took a deep breath, surprised to find heat against her fingers. A black ball of energy, it's core pulsating with shades of purple and white, floated inches above her claws. "Damn..." She whispered, dropping her scythe to admire her power. "I'm badass." She chuckled, leaning to grasp her weapon, as she turned to the door.

"It's now or never."


	63. Chapter 63

Charging Satan hadn't been in Lloyd's favor.

The gold suited boy, once full of energy and power, lay nothing more than a broken body on the ground. He could feel where his arms and leg had been snapped, could see the blood from the broken bone poked through his thigh. He couldn't move. He'd been too slow.

"This is it," Satan looked over him, barely any scratches. "You've lost."

"No," Lloyd spat blood to the ground, struggling to rise, so he rested his head to the ground, staring at the slowly rising sun, the sky now a rich blood red. "As long...as my friends...and family...fight you...we won't...lose..."

"But they're dead too." Satan smiled warmly, his eyes full of malice and greed.

"Who said we were?"

"Oh lovely, the gangs all here," Satan pressed his fingers to his temple, rolling his eyes as the slowly changed to an entirely blood red color...just as the sun rose on the horizon, a bloody grin spread across his face, and he looked up, his pupils and irises the size of pinpoints.

Almost instantly, the sky went completely black, the street lights off. The only light visible was Satan, and he looked around slowly, at the ninja and his brothers and sister, slowly edging away from him with mixed reactions. The ninja horrified, the demons, pleased.

"As the sun sets on the winter solstice, shall Satan regain his power," the demon recited, staring up jovially at the sight of the moon, now a blood red, the only visible object. "And for the ninja, this may just be...the final hour."

The atmosphere grew heavy and tense, and Lloyd felt himself paralyzed to his spot. Then all the light came back at once, the former darkness now enveloping the devil, the only able way to sense his presence his maniacal laughter.

"And indeed it is the final hour!" He yelled, his voice changing in pitch to nothing but a demonic tone. "The ninja have lost! This is for you father! Insanity! We will make you proud!"

Then the darkness dispersed, and where Satan once stood, was something Lloyd knew he'd never be able to unsee.

It was maybe seven, eight feet tall, it's skin dark red like a severly burnt patient in a hospital. Both sides of its forehead were shredded up, huge, dark crimson goat like horns jutting from its skull. Instead of clothes, it wore black armor, which seemed to be melted into its skin. A huge, torn bloody smile on its face, crimson splotches around its sunken, red eyes. On either side of it's back, wee two next black bat like wings, it's spiked tail swishing at its legs.

"This is my power," Lucifer spoke eagerly, walking slowly towards Lloyd. "This is...the final hour!" And he raised his now black and red twisted weapon, which quickly transformed itself into a sword, and swung down, right where Lloyd's head was.

Right before Lloyd could blink, even scream, something...much taller than himself entered his field of vision.

This new thing was maybe six feet tall, about two feet shorter than Satan, and almost completely opposite in appearance. A dark gray gas mask completely covered their face, the only exception being their mid- length white hair, which seemed to be chopped at an angle, only covering where their...right eye would be. One of their jet black claws gripped an equally as menacing scythe, the other lay limp at their side. While Satan only had his horns, this new creature had a small set of black horns and thin black antlers, jutting at the top of their skull. They had black raven wings, and all they wore was a black and white scarf and a...Darkleys uniform, one of the shoulders bloodied and torn where Satan had slain his blade.

"Hello Satan." They said calmly, their voice like that of a girls, but maybe in a G-Major...or that of a person who'd used a voice simulator, scratchy and robotic, but demonic nonetheless.

"Hello," Satan nodded. "So...which ninja are you?" His crimson eyes drifted to the ninja, who all looked equally as horrified, but counted all four. Garmadon, Nya, Amara and Wu stood there, paralyzed with shock. Kade and Akira, nor Dante hadn't moved. And it couldn't possibly be AJ or Lloyd.

"You're...that one girl, aren't you?" He sounded as if he were about start laughing, but the other didn't. Satan stared at the ninja. "This is the best you've got? Honestly?"

"Mali?" Garmadon asked in disbelief, his eyes wide, the creature looked at him, nodding rapidly, his expression turned to that of anger. "Samael Nyx Garmadon, get the hell away from him. Now!"

"Damn, you're nice." Mali chuckled slightly. Satan laughed as well.

"Evil Ones, take them out."

Almost at once, the demons pounced on the ninja, who barely had time to defend themselves, having quickly split into groups to take them on.

"Mali," Garmadon then yelled, angrily. "If you die, don't expect me to be upset."

"I never did!" She shot back, ripping Satans sword from her shoulder.

"You're the one foretold to fight me...a newborn." Satan spat in disgust, his eyes traveling up and down her own demon form.

"You're technically newborn too," Mali smirked under her mask. "With all that power, you'd expect someone to crack, right?"

"You're quite the insolent little girl," They began circling each other. "Perhaps this will be fun."

"Indeed." And Mali ran at him, but Satan was faster, grabbing her arm and throwing her to the ground.

"You're weak. Pathetic," He spat in her ear, , digging his fingers under the gas mask and wrenching it off. "You should like to see your last moments with your own eyes..." His own widened. "Oh my, you're quite ugly."

She'd stood back up, gripping her arm. Her skin was the color of snow, and her Glasgow smile looked to be partially melted together in some spots. Her blood had run black, and her sclera were fully black, with the exception of her white iris and pentagram.

"You ain't a looker yourself buddy." She spat at him, and he chuckled.

"Well, you won't defeat me."

"No," she hissed. "But a little birdie told me how to banish you."

His skin paled visibly at the words, and he shook his head. "You are...a demon...you wouldn't..."

"Oh. Try me." She snarled, flying at him once more. Metal clashed on metal, and the both flew away from each other, panting visibly, as this continued for moments at a time.

While the ninja were having their own problems. The Evil Ones had gone down surprisingly quickly, having no power, with the exception of Fear, who now stood before them, his fingertips dancing with purple energy.

"Don't let him touch you!" Jay yelled, narrowly dodging an attack by the demon.

"You've caught on quick." He snarled, nearly grasping Nya's arm.

All at once, he suddenly froze, his mouth in a perfect O shape, his yes wide as he fell to his knees, staring at the gaping hole in his chest. Behind him stood Lloyd, golden energy smoking off his own fingertips.

"You can't kill me that easily." He smirked, before falling to his knees.

"Lloyd!" Amara and Garmadon rushed to their son, hugging him tightly. "You're alright."

"I'm fine," he whispered, buried in his fathers chest. "I'm fine."

Satan shot past them, his fist radiating with dark power, whilst Mali hastily dodged an attack, snarling.

"You're quite powerful, I'll give you that." He smirked.

"As well as a secret, I'll bet you didn't know that your precious parents-"

"They are nothing to me." She muttered, not caring at the words pierced their hearts like a dagger.

"You're to be just like your father. Evil. Power crazed. It's wonderful isn't it? The venom. Can't you feel it, little girl?"

She nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I...have..for a while now...but that's not what matters!" And she held out her now bloodstained scythe at him, before the whole thing burst into flames, and she ran at him, he held up his own blade.

"For the devil, you're weak. All that time in Hell drained your power, huh?" She smirked, her voice literally dripping with evil venom. Garmadon and Amara could only watch in horror, their eyes wide as they watched the fight go on.

"Please be okay." Her mother kept muttering, clenching Lloyd's fist, but she wasn't sure who she was talking to.

"You know, enough of this," Satan declared, having just snapped the girls wing. He stamped his foot to the ground once more, this time, deep enough so Hell was visible to them both. "Time to join the demons!" And he shoved her, but she jumped at the last moments, and he slipped, barely grasping the ledge. Mali grasped his hand, smiling.

"You're very weak," she stated, before speaking in an ancient and raspy voice, and then the devil knew he'd lost. "Ego Garmadon Samael Pellat tibi quamdiu vivam ad infernum , ut nunquam in terra viventium, et iterum tibi ! Vade Satana : et fratres tuos isse in Inferno!" Before dropping Satan into the lava filled chasms below, to rot in Hell once more.

But the devil wasn't quite down, and had grabbed her by her shirt, dragging her down with him.

"NO!"


	64. Epilogue

"Hey Mali, I don't know if you can hear me right now...but I just wanted to say...thanks."

Lloyd stared up at the dark blue sky, his eyes wet with tears. It had been three weeks since Mali and Satan had both fallen to Hell, and even then, he wasn't sure who'd yelled No in the final moments, as he'd lost consciousness.

"Your sacrifice meant a lot sis, and...everyone misses you...a lot."

Which was true, of course. The ninja regretted not being nicer to the girl, and her parents were devasted, but no more than AJ, who'd been locked up in his and Kades room for the whole time.

"Of course, you're a jerk for leaving," He chuckled, wiping his eyes. "But...thanks..again."

His voice cracked, and he turned away, walking to the door. "I miss you, little sister."

And he slammed the door shut.

"Oh, don't worry Lloyd...I'll be back.

Right when you least expect it..."

THE END.

Thank you all so much, and stay tuned for book 2: Betrayal


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